Main Piece: Ukrainian Lullaby

Ніч яка місячна, зоряна, ясная! / Видно, хоч голки збирай. / Вийди, коханая, працею зморена, / Хоч на хвилиночку в гай.
Сядем укупочці тут під калиною – / І над панами я пан! / Глянь, моя рибонько, – срібною хвилею / Стелиться полем туман.
Гай чарівний, ніби променем всипаний, / Чи загадався, чи спить: / Ген на стрункій та високій осичині / Листя пестливо тремтить.

Небо незміряне всипане зорями, / Що то за Божа краса! / Перлами ясними попід тополями / Грає краплиста роса.

Ти не лякайся, що ніженьки босії / Вмочиш в холодну росу: / Я тебе, вірная, аж до хатиноньки / Сам на руках піднесу.
Ти не лякайся, що змерзнеш, лебедонько, / Тепло – ні вітру, ні хмар… / Я пригорну тебе до свого серденька, / А воно палке, як жар.

Phonetic:

Nich yaka misyachna, zoryana, yasnaya! / Vydno, khoch holky zbyray. / Vyydy, kokhanaya, pratseyu zmorena, / Khoch na khvylynochku v hay.
Syadem ukupochtsi tut pid kalynoyu – / I nad panamy ya pan! / Hlyanʹ, moya rybonʹko, – sribnoyu khvyleyu / Stelytʹsya polem tuman.
Hay charivnyy, niby promenem vsypanyy, / Chy zahadavsya, chy spytʹ: / Hen na strunkiy ta vysokiy osychyni / Lystya pestlyvo tremtytʹ.
Nebo nezmiryane vsypane zoryamy, / Shcho to za Bozha krasa! / Perlamy yasnymy popid topolyamy / Hraye kraplysta rosa.
Ty ne lyakaysya, shcho nizhenʹky bosiyi / Vmochysh v kholodnu rosu: / YA tebe, virnaya, azh do khatynonʹky / Sam na rukakh pidnesu.
Ty ne lyakaysya, shcho zmerznesh, lebedonʹko, / Teplo – ni vitru, ni khmar… / YA pryhornu tebe do svoho serdenʹka, / A vono palke, yak zhar.

Translation:

Oh night which is moonlight, starlit, clear! / So visible, you can collect needles. / Come out, my exhausted love, / For a minute into the garden.

Let’s sit together here under this rose bush / I am their master / Look my darling, a silver wave / The fog rolls onto the field.

So magical, as if powdered by rays / Or lost in thought, asleep / The wind above the thin and tall oak tree / the leaves gently shakes.

The sky is innumerably sprinkled with stars, / What Godly beauty! / Visible under the poplars / plays the mottled dew.

Don’t be afraid that your bare legs / will become wet from the cold dew; / I, my loyal, all the way to the house / in my arms will carry.

Don’t be afraid that you will freeze, my dear, / It is warm- not a breeze, not a cloud… / I will hold you close to my heart / It is hot, like a fever.

Background Information:

• Why does informant know this piece?

Her mother sang it to her when she was a baby / small child.

• Where did they learn this piece?

The Soviet Union, Kiev, Ukraine.

• What does it mean to them?

It is a sweet, calming song that reminds her of her home and culture.

Context:

• Where?

Usually sung in a dark bedroom.

• When?

This song is often sung night.

• Why?

It is meant to help a child fall asleep.

Personal Thoughts:

My mother also sang me this song, as did my grandmother. It is a very calming, haunting song that calls back to old Ukraine before the Soviet Union. Often times people skip different couplets of the song depending on if they like them or not. This song also appears in a few Soviet era films, such as “В бой идут одни старики” which can be translated as “Only Old Men Go To War”.

To hear this song in the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONsgbw_VLms

Bykov, Leonid, director. Only Old Men Are Going to Battle. Dovzhenko Film Studios, 1974.