THE IMAGE OF CHYGYRYN IN THE POETRY OF T. SHEVCHENKO AND IN «HISTORY OF RUS PEOPLE»

Abstract

In «History of Rus People» Chygyryn is shown as a city of strong hetman power, where the fate of Ukraine is decided, and at the same time a city of strife, internal conflicts, political disorientation, which ends up with the destruction of the city in 1678 under pressure of the Turks. If the author of «History of Rus People» unfolds before us the history of Chygyryn over about 180 years, then the history of Shevchenko’s Chygyryn dates back more than 240 years. According to T. Shevchenko Chygyryn undergoes three stages of development – Cossack, Haydamaky and the period of decline and oblivion, contemporary to T. Shevchenko. The image of Chygyryn in T. Shevchenko's works usually does not acquire specific external features. The poet mostly represents the image of Chygyryn through an action or an event that takes place in it. For T. Shevchenko, Chygyryn serves as a starting point for certain national-scale actions and processes: the Cossack march («Headscarf»), the election of a hetman («On Holy Sunday»), the Haydamaky movement («Haydamaky»). It is obvious that the fate of Chyhyryn disturbed T. Shevchenko, since, as he clearly saw it, together with the hetman's capital, burned in quite remote for T. Shevchenko year of 1678 and transformed into a regular township, the memory of the role of Chygyryn in the history of Ukraine in its statesmanship period had been forgotten. T. Shevchenko expresses his reflections in this regard in the poetry «Chygyryn, Chygyryn ...». Chygyryn is spiritually related to T. Shevchenko. Ukraine and Chygyryn are in a strong connection in T. Shevchenko’s mind. At the same time, the author of «History of Rus People» refers to Chygyryn and its fate rather distantly, notably, using no epithets regarding Chygyryn. In T. Shevchenko’s works, Chygyryn is associated with the concepts of glory and holiness and becomes symbolic. This is not only the real Chygyryn, whose history has reached both heyday and decline, – for T. Shevchenko – it is a symbol of Cossack glory, statehood, spiritual unity of the people.