National Anthems

We continued the 4th of July theme at the English Club this week. Stacie led us in a discussion of "The Star Spangled Banner," which Frances Scott Key wrote in 1814 as he watched a day-long battle with England from a ship in the Chesapeake Bay (or was it the Potomac river?). Stacie sang the anthem with pride, and made it sound easy. I never could rise up another octive on "And the rockets red glare."

Stacie talked about the words, like a true TEFL volunteer. She also stressed the images, and had members draw pictures of them: stars and stripes, rockets, ramparts, bombs bursting in air, the flag still waving over the land of the free and the home of the brave. So this is the origin of the 4th and fireworks! We also learned that this battle song didn't officially become our national anthem until 1931, during another struggle, this one economic, the Great Depression.

I talked about "America the Beautiful," which I said I preferred to the national anthem, because the images are more of nature than war, more about beauty than bombs. Spacious skies, amber waves of grain, majestic purple mountains above fruited plains. Stacie disagreed with me and we had a little debate in front of everyone, then shook hands and said, "A lesson in democracy!"

I said I thought "America the Beautiful"

could also be the Ukrainian national anthem, with a few changes in words and rhyme, because it evokes the vast blue skies and the fields of

golden wheat (and some say sunflowers) of the Ukrainian flag. There didn't seem to be much interest in the Ukrainian national anthem itself, which I asked Ira , who has a lovely voice, to sing for us. She had to run to the next roon to ask a librarian for a book to remind her of the words.

Meanwhile, a few members spoke them, like a poem, a rather sad poem. Another started off, "'Ukraine is not yet Dead,' and I cannot go on with it," to much laughter in the room. As for Ira, she would have done better if I had asked her to sing some Beyonce or Lady Gaga songs! We did see a lovely picture of the national symbol, a beautiful trident, in the book she brought to us.

We talked a little about why the the Ukrainian national anthem didn't seem to stir up the same kind of patriotic fervor other national anthems do. The feelings were strong but hard to pin down.

I attribute it to the long struggle for national identify in Ukraine, which is ongoing. But the people are so lovely, so talented, that I hope some day everyone will sing the Ukrainian national anthem with gusto and pride.

I thought about this later in the day, while trying to fall asleep. As I drifted into dreamland, this thought occured to me: I think it would help if Ukraine had a top-notch football (soccer) team, especially for the 2012 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by and held in Ukraine and Poland. This would go a long way toward boosting national pride. Then the Ukrainian national anthem would take on new meaning for a bright future.

Here is the current Ukrainian national anthem, formally approved by the Rada (Parliament) in 2003, almost a decade after the country achieved independence from the Soviet Union. Below that are the original words from earlier in the 20th century, which I must admit are not too stirring, more a lament, or a dirge. "Ukraine is not yet dead" is a real downer for the 21st century. l think the more recent editing made it better, although it's hard to translate with meaning from the Ukrainian to English, and it still evokes more uncertainty about the future than pride. Perhaps it should be edited again (I have a version in my head), put in the present tense, not the future tense, as if the proud, free and brave country doesn't exist yet. I have a feeling that Ukrainians do not know which is the real anthem now, however, so a re-edit for the 2012 World Cup could put everyone, at last, on the same page.

Ukrainian National Anthem (adopted 2003)

Ukraine's glory hasn't perished, nor her freedom
Upon us, fellow compatriots, fate shall smile once more.
Our enemies will vanish, like dew in the morning sun,
And we too shall rule, brothers, in a free land of our own.

We'll lay down our souls and bodies to attain our freedom,
And we'll show that we, brothers, are of the Kozak nation.


Ukrainian National Anthem before it became part of USSR
Ukraine is Not Yet Dead
Ukraine is not yet dead, nor its glory and freedom,
Luck will still smile on us brother-Ukrainians.
Our enemies will die, as the dew does in the sunshine,
and we, too, brothers, we'll live happily in our land.
We'll not spare either our souls or bodies to get freedom
and we'll prove that we brothers are of Kozak kin.
We'll rise up, brothers, all of us, from the Sain to the Don,
We won't let anyone govern in our motherland.
The Black Sea will smile yet, grandfather Dnipro will rejoice,
Yet in our Ukraine luck will be high.
Our persistence, our sincere toil will prove its rightness,
still our freedom's loud song will spread throughout Ukraine.
It'll reflect upon the Carpathians, will sound through the steppes,
and Ukraine's glory will arise among the people.