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    Bilia Topoli → English translation

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Near the Poplars

1 Gold meadows
Lead up to the sky
And sadness is all around
Poplar, poplar, leaned over
There, old fathers
Wept as they stood.
Farewell to their son
As he became a hero
Young lad,
young Cossack.
 
There near poplars, the kalyna* grows
Mothers eyes wait for you.
She is crying in despair
Still waiting for her son
But God already has his soul.
Mother, I died for freedom,
For truth and the destiny of future generations.
For those who are far away in the sea
And they will return alive on the stork's wings
 
2 Quietly outside
And only listening as,
As his mother's words
Flew, flew towards the Cossack.
"You see my son
The candle hasn't gone out
Forever she will yet burn
She will burn.
Young lad,
young Cossack."
 
There near poplars, the kalyna* grows
Mothers eyes wait for you.
She is crying in despair
Still waiting for her son
But God already has his soul.
Mother, I died for freedom,
For truth and the destiny of future generations.
For those who are far away in the sea
And they will return alive on the stork's wings
 
3 A year had already passed
A new spring came
But there was no peace of mind,
There was none already and still there is none.
There the tired father
Alone paved the way
For the son to follow it himself
And yet he did not.
Young lad,
Young Cossack.
 
There near poplars, the kalyna* grows
Mothers eyes wait for you.
She is crying in despair
Still waiting for her son
But God already has his soul.
Mother, I died for freedom,
For truth and the destiny of future generations.
For those who are far away in the sea
And they will return alive on the stork's wings
 
There near poplars, the kalyna* grows
Mothers eyes wait for you.
She is crying in despair
Still waiting for her son
But God already has his soul.
Mother, I died for freedom,
For truth and the destiny of future generations.
For those who are far away in the sea
And they will return alive on the stork's wings
 
Original lyrics

Bilia Topoli

Click to see the original lyrics (Ukrainian)

Comments
SindArytiySindArytiy
   Sat, 27/11/2021 - 17:44

The source lyrics have been updated. Please review your translation.

DraugarnirDraugarnir
   Sun, 28/11/2021 - 11:30

Thanks for making me aware of this.
I can't see any difference in the source lyrics, but it has been a long time since I last looked.
As regards the translation itself, I am sure it has problems, but my Ukrainian has unfortunately lapsed since then, so I'm not well-placed to spot these.

If you could point out any change in the source lyrics, that would be a great help, if this translation is even salvageable.

SindArytiySindArytiy
   Sun, 28/11/2021 - 15:03

Hello! The following changes have been made:

І сумно на вкруги => І сумно навкруги
Цила у розпачі плаче => Сива у розпачі плаче
Цина все чекає => Сина все чекає
І крилами лелеку повернутьця живі => І крилами лелеки повернуться живі

Added at the end of the second verse (Second verse - "Тихо на дворі..."): Молодий юнак, / Молодий козак

The full version of the second chorus has been added, and at the end the chorus is repeated twice.

DraugarnirDraugarnir
   Tue, 30/11/2021 - 20:28

I looked over this, and *think* it is just changes in spelling. The translation itself should stay unchanged, I hope.

When I did the translation, I did it first on paper from this video, then copied it onto this site.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKerRcAF_Tg

OgingerOOgingerO    Tue, 30/11/2021 - 20:30

If you can see, the translation no longer matches the source lyrics - they don't align.

DraugarnirDraugarnir
   Tue, 30/11/2021 - 20:33

In the formatting? Or do you mean the translation itself has mistakes? I imagine it does.
If the former, would you prefer it written out in full? At the time I put this up, I was on mobile, hence the abbreviations.

OgingerOOgingerO    Tue, 30/11/2021 - 20:36

In the formatting if you click on the transliteration, you will see it to the right and the original source to the left - since the new changes they now don't align - hence they should be formatted so they align. :)

I can't speak to the translation aspect, I do not know the language - but they should align regardless. I hope that clears it up.

DraugarnirDraugarnir
   Tue, 30/11/2021 - 20:37

I just went through it, hopefully that looks better?

OgingerOOgingerO    Tue, 30/11/2021 - 20:38

you have two "homeless" lines

For those who are far away in the sea
And the stork returns alive on her wings

not sure where they are supposed to be.

DraugarnirDraugarnir
   Tue, 30/11/2021 - 20:39

I am unsure what you mean, for me they line up.

OgingerOOgingerO    Tue, 30/11/2021 - 20:48

if you click on one line in the original lyrics - it should highlight the corresponding line of the translation - if it doesn't do that click on the the little line icon to the right of the translation -

and you can go line by line and see where there aren't any highlights on the translation but they exist in the original lyrics.

DraugarnirDraugarnir
   Tue, 30/11/2021 - 20:55

There's the problem... I don't remember why, but I didn't make the translation line by line.
It was done on mobile, so I was used to misalignment and such, and probably did it because I didn't like how it looked line by line.
I'll have a go at fixing that.

SindArytiySindArytiy
   Tue, 30/11/2021 - 22:14

And the stork returns alive on her wings => And they will return alive on the stork's wings.

DraugarnirDraugarnir
   Tue, 30/11/2021 - 22:48

Cheers, I knew something was wrong there.

Mauler2Mauler2    Thu, 31/03/2022 - 22:23

fate is a negative word, better use destiny instead

DraugarnirDraugarnir
   Tue, 05/04/2022 - 18:51

It was simply the dictionary translation that I happened to use.
Personally, I think fate fits the tone of the song better, but I do think destiny adds a tinge of hope to it. I have now changed it.