Analysis of poem by

Robert Burns "My

Heart's In The
Highlands" and
translation of Mykola
Lukash "Моє серце в
верховині"

work by: Inna Ferents, INP-13

Mykola Lukash as a
translator
- He knew more than 20 languages.
- Member of the Union of Writers of Ukraine from 1956
and played an active role in Ukrainian literary life.
- He was the only one who managed to completely
translate "Faust"
- For many years he was effectively under house arrest.
- During his life, Mykola Lukash made 3,500 translations.
In his works - "Decameron", "Don Quixote", "Faust",
"Madame Bovary", works by Garcia Lorca, Robert Burns,
Friedrich Schiller, Heinrich Heine.


My Heart's In The Highlands МОЄ СЕРЦЕ В ВЕРХОВИНІ

My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here, Моє серце в верховині і душа моя,
My heart's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer - Моя дума в верховині соколом буя,
A-chasing the wild deer, and following the roe; Моя мрія в гори лине наздогін вітрам,
My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go. Моє серце в верховині, де б не був я сам.

Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North Будь здорова, верховино, любий рідний край,
The birth place of Valour, the country of Worth; Честі й слави батьківщино, вольності розмай!
Wherever I wander, wherever I rove, Хоч іду я на чужину, повернуся знов,
The hills of the Highlands for ever I love. Моє серце в верховині і моя любов.

Farewell to the mountains high cover'd with snow; Прощавайте, сині гори, білії сніги,
Farewell to the straths and green valleys below; Прощавайте, темні звори й світлії луги!
Farewell to the forrests and wild-hanging woods; Прощавайте, пущі дикі й тіняві гаї,
Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods. Прощавайте, буйні ріки й бистрі ручаї!
 HIGHLANDS - ВЕРХОВИНА
First of all, I would like to tell about the

translation of word "Highlands". It is a

historical region of Scotland. Robert Burns
wanted to show his homesickness. He depicted
love for his native land. His heart and soul
belongs to Highlands. But Mykola translated it
like a ‘верховина’. To my mind, in this way, he
referred to our Carpathians and gave this poem
a Ukrainian motif.


The translator changed the first strophe almost

completely, only the last line in the translation is the same
as in the original: "My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I
go." - "Моє серце в верховині, де б не був я сам." Also
in the first strophe Lukash replaced ‘heart’ with very
beautiful Ukrainian equivalents "душа", "мрія" and "дума".
Maybe, he wanted to avoid a repeat, make the poem
more diverse and richer in figures of speech, mostly in
metaphores, such as: "Моє серце в верховині і душа
моя, Моя дума в верховині соколом буя, Моя мрія в
гори лине наздогін вітрам" .
Images of animals in the original and translation

ROBERT BURNS USED IMAGES OF DEER AND ROE IN HIS POEM, BUT
LUKASH AVOIDED THEM. INSTEAD, IN THE PHRASE "СОКОЛОМ БУЯ"
HE USED THE IMAGE OF A BIRD COMMON IN UKRAINЕ. THIS SYMBOL
IS VERY POPULAR IN OUR FOLKLORE AND SYMBOLIZES COURAGE,
YOUTH AND STRENGTH.


DESCRIPTION OF COUNTRIES
In the second strophe The whole line “The birth-place of Valor, the country
of Worth; ”, depicting mental picture of the nation, has deep strength and
shows respect for bravery of those born in the country, the Highlanders.
Instead, Mykola Lukash used words and phrases that fit the description of
his homeland: "верховино, любий рідний край Честі й слави
батьківщино, вольності розмай". "Вольності розмай" it is an element of
folklore. "Честь і слова" (honor and glory) it is a stable phrase often used
in Ukrainian literature
EPITHETS
In the third strophe there are a lot of
epithets, such as "сині гори, білії сніги ,
темні звори й світлії луги , пущі дикі й
тіняві гаї, буйні ріки й бистрі ручаї".
Due to them, the translator really
managed to show all the beauty,
picturesquenes, diverse and wonderful
nature of his homeland .


CONCLUSIONS
TO SUM UP, I WOULD LIKE TO SAY, THAT LUKASH DID NOT
TRY TO CONVEY SCOTTISH TRADITIONS WITH THIS
TRANSLATION, BUT ON THE CONTRARY, COMPLETELY
REWORKED IT INTO THE UKRAINIAN STYLE. THE THEME OF
POETRY HAS REMAINED THE SAME AND IT IS A
HOMESICKNESS. BUT BURNS WROTE ABOUT HIS HOMELAND
SCOTLAND AND LUKASH ABOUT UKRAINE. MYKOLA LUKASH
DID NOT TRANSLATE THIS POEM LITERALLY BUT CHANGED IT
SO THAT UKRAINIANS WOULD UNDERSTAND ITS THEME.
 CONCLUSIONS
ALSO, I WOULD LIKE TO ADD THAT IT IS NOT A
SCIENTIFIC TRANSLATION, BUT A COLORFUL,
ADAPTED, POETIC ONE. THERE IS NOTHING
SUPERFLUOUS OR ACCIDENTAL IN IT. THE
LANGUAGE IS MELODIC AND RICH IN DIFFERENT
FIGURES OF SPEECH , THERE ARE A LOT OF
EPITHETS AND METAPHORS. A LITERAL
TRANSLATION IS NOT ABLE TO CONVEY THE
DEPTH OF THE WORK OF ART AND THE MAIN
MESSAGE OF IT.
THANK YOU FOR
ATTENTION!