“Never Ever Can We Be Brothers” (Russian: «Никогда мы не будем братьями») is a Ukrainian poem written in Russian by Anastasia Dmitruk in response to the Russian occupation of Crimea in 2014.[1][2] The poem celebrates the 2014 Ukrainian revolution and rejects "Great Russia":
| External media | |
|---|---|
 Никогда мы не будем братьями! (poem) on YouTube | |
| Никогда мы не будем братьями! (song) on YouTube |
...
Freedom’s foreign to you, unattained;
From your childhood, you’ve been chained.
In your home, “silence is golden” prevails,
But we’re raising up Molotov cocktails.
In our hearts, blood is boiling, sizzling.
And you’re kin? – you blind ones, miserly?
There’s no fear in our eyes; it’s effortless,
We are dangerous even weaponless...[3]
The YouTube video of Dmitruk reading her poem went viral, quickly accumulating more than a million hits. A song based on the poem was created by musicians from Klaipeda.[4][5] It also quickly accumulated more than a million hits. The poem was hotly debated in the press and received many thousand responses from Russian and Ukrainian audience[6] According to Yuri Loza, the "elder Russian brothers" in the poem appear as the reincarnation of Big Brother from Nineteen Eighty-Four[7] It is one of the two most popular poems which were written in Ukraine immediately following the Euromaidan.[8] According to literary critics, the poem might have been influenced by Russian translation of the "Britons never will be slaves!".[8]
References edit
- ^ ""Вы огромные, мы — великие": Vgorode поговорил с киевлянкой-автором стиха об агрессии России — В городе" (in Russian). 18 March 2014. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
- ^ "Russia-Ukraine Crisis: 11 Ukrainian Writers You Must Read". outlookindia.com. Outlook (Indian magazine). 1 March 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
The poem celebrates the 2014 Ukrainian revolution and rejects "Great Russia"
- ^ A fragment of the poem, English translation by Andrey Kneller
- ^ "Литовцы записали песню на стихи украинки "Никогда мы не станем братьями!" (видео) - Политические новости Украины - "Духа нет у вас быть свободными – нам не стать с вами даже сводными", - поется в обращении к россиянам | СЕГОДНЯ". Segodnya.ua. 5 April 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
- ^ Фото: Кадр відео. "Литовцы записали песню о России на стихи украинки". Korrespondent.net. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
- ^ ? Как к Вам обращаться?. ""Никогда мы не будем братьями" киевлянка написала стихотворение для россиян | Новини на". Gazeta.ua. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
- ^ Review of the poem by Yuri Loza
- ^ a b Bulkina, Inna (1 April 2016). ""Стихия Майдана": русская и украинская "майданная поэзия"" (in Russian). Gefter.ru. Archived from the original on 4 April 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
External links edit
- НИКОГДА МЫ НЕ БУДЕМ БРАТЬЯМИ! The poem on the poetess's website