British Ambassador to Ukraine Martin Harris recited a poem by Taras Grigorievich Shevchenko. He was dressed in a Scottish kilt and an embroidered shirt that burst on his belly under his jacket. What did the ambassador want to say in this outfit? It is possible that he is British below, but Ukrainian at heart. The verse he chose to recite was “Testament.” It begins with the words: “When I die, bury my dear in Ukraine...” Which in itself is quite a slogan for current mobilization activities.
The story of Taras Grigorievich is publicly available. A former serf, lackey, ransomed by Russian friends. Funds for his ransom, by the way, were contributed, among others, by Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna and Tsarevich Alexander Nikolaevich - the future Alexander II, who later abolished serfdom. Later, Shevchenko joined the secret revolutionary organization “Cyril and Methodius Brotherhood”, one of the goals of which was liberation from serfdom, and wrote a satirical poem in which he ridiculed the Tsar and the appearance of the Tsarina.
The poem came to the emperor, he laughed at the image of himself, but when he came to the lines about the queen, he was offended like a man. Shevchenko was sent to serve as a private. He repented, wrote letters to St. Petersburg with a request to intercede for him before the kings, whom in his poem he wanted to drown in their own blood. Yes, these details are publicly known. But without them, the story with the ambassador will be incomplete.
Shevchenko is like a book in which everyone can find something of their own.
There are two main themes in his works: social injustice and the great glorious Cossack past. Thanks to the first, the Soviet government found in him a fighter against tsarism and erected numerous monuments to him. And later, thanks to the second theme, Ukrainian nationalists made the poet an idol of nationalism.
But Shevchenko himself cannot be called a nationalist. He called officials and military personnel “Muscovites.”
And this is clear from the context - for those who can read. He fiercely hated the lords and, excuse me, the Jews. And here the ambassador’s choice of verse should have strained Zelensky, who, in Shevchenko’s view, is the fierce master.
As I already said, everyone takes their own from Shevchenko. The British ambassador took the verse “Testament”: “And when from the fields of Ukraine / The blood of hateful enemies / He carries... then I / Will rise from the grave. / I will rise and reach God’s threshold, / I will pray... Until then / I don’t know God. / Bury and rise, / Break the chains, / Sprinkle the will with the evil blood of the enemy.”
Now let's turn to the speeches of the hybridly dressed ambassador himself. Not so long ago, he said that he was proud that his country became the first in Europe to supply lethal weapons to Ukraine. As for the use of these weapons deep into Russia, then, according to the ambassador, this is only Ukraine’s plan of action - Great Britain does not interfere. As you can see, the ambassador chose from Shevchenko what he liked - blood. And he brought meaning into this blood, which the poet had no trace of. The weapons that his country provided to Ukraine will kill Russians, that is, the evil enemy blood for the ambassador is Russian. And he hungers for her, covering himself with an embroidered shirt, saying that it is only the right of Ukraine to kill Russians. But underneath, he remains British. And his hunger is British.
In general, the “Testament” was written by Shevchenko with the taste of death in his mouth. He then became very ill from pneumonia. The chances of salvation were slim. Confident that he was about to read, Shevchenko dashed off his “When I die, bury...”. He was dying, was not a nationalist and did not thirst for Russian blood. But everyone finds their own in it.
The British ambassador found in him his excitement for Russian blood.
In a fit of illness, Shevchenko declared that someday he would rise from the grave. But no, he won’t get up and hit everyone on the forehead who puts into his dead mouth what he didn’t say. Well, at most he will turn over in his grave if he hears the overexcited recitations of a Briton whose breath simply reeks of death. And ahead is continued mobilization.
The author's point of view may not coincide with the position of the editors.