Thread by @FAB87F

History of the National Anthem of Ukraine

The Ukrainian national anthem can be traced back to one of the parties of the Ukrainian ethnographer and poet Pavlo Chubynsky that occurred during the autumn of 1862.

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This poem gained a wide popularity among the Ukrainian intelligentsia.

It is likely that the Polish national song "Poland Is Not Yet Lost" ("Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła"), which dates back to 1797, also had an influence on Chubynsky's lyrics.

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"Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła" was popular among the nations of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that were at that time fighting for their independence; the January Uprising started a few months after Chubynsky wrote his lyrics.

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According to a memoirist present, Chubynsky wrote the lyrics spontaneously while listening to Serbian students sing a hymn, "Hey, Slavs", which is influenced by the Polish anthem—during a gathering of Serbian and Ukrainian students in a Kyiv apartment.

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Two years later Mykhailo Verbytskyi, a priest was moved to compose music for the poem. It was first performed as a choral work in 1864 in the Ukraine Theatre in Lvov.

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Upon the declaration of Ukrainian independence in 1917, a number of patriotic works were used in the capacity of a national anthem, including Chubynskyi’s work, but none of them were officially declared as the national anthem.

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In 1920, Ukraine was made part of the Soviet Union, and “Shche ne vmerla Ukrayina” and other patriotic works were officially discouraged.

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During the second world war, the short lived Carpatho-Ukraine Republic (now located in western Ukraine) adopted “Shche ne vmerla Ukrayina” as its anthem.

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Upon the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine regained its independence and Chubynskyi’s anthem was the most popular choice already in use as an anthem.

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When independence was declared no lyrics were officially mandated, the lyrics that were in common use at the time differed somewhat from Chubynskyi’s original poem.

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The lyrics were made official in 2003 and changed slightly; the most important change was made to the first line (and title), which were interestingly borrowed from the Polish anthem.

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In the new version, the case ending of the word “Ukraine” was changed, so that rather than saying “Ukraine hasn’t yet died, nor has her glory or freedom,” it now says that it’s Ukraine’s glory and freedom which haven’t perished.

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The current anthem is limited to the first verse of Chubynskyi’s poem (with the modification mentioned above) plus the chorus, which was the first half of Chubynskyi’s original chorus; previously, three verses and a chorus were commonly used.

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Verse

The glory of Ukraine has not yet perished, nor the will.
Still upon us, young brothers, fate shall smile.
Our enemies shall vanish, like dew in the sun.
We too shall rule, brothers, our country.

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Chorus

Soul and body shall we lay down for our freedom,
And we will show, brothers, that we are of the Cossack nation!

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