Haidamaky (poem)

1841 epic poem by Taras Shevchenko

An illustration to the poem by Opanas Slastion, 1886

Haidamaki (Ukrainian: Гайдамаки), also transliterated Hajdamaky, Haydamaki, or as Haydamaks is an epic poem by Taras Shevchenko about the Koliivshchyna uprising led by Maksym Zalizniak and Ivan Gonta.

Гайдамаки, 1841 publication, "Hajdamaky"

The poem was written in about 1839–1841 and first published in full as a separate book in Saint Petersburg in 1841.^[1] It is dedicated to his friend, artist, Vasyl Ivanovych Hryhorovych.^[2] It is included in later editions of the classic collection of poetry, Kobzar .^[3]

Structure

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The poem consists of an introduction, 11 main chapters, an "Epilogue," a prose preface, and "Precepts." The introduction and the "Epilogue" are the compositional framing of the poem. In the introduction, the poet declares his ideological intention to glorify the Haidamaks. Here he asserts the idea of the nationality of literature and the right of Ukrainian literature to exist and develop.

Plot

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The story has two intertwined storylines: the development and course of the uprising called Koliivshchyna and the story of Yarema's personal life.

Reception

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From Taras Shevchenko

The poem was met with sharp criticism by the literary critic Vissarion Belinsky; in the magazine Otechestvennye Zapiski he criticized Shevchenko's "inclination to romantic pompous ingenuity".