Two poems by Anatoliy Anatoliy, translated from Ukrainian by Olena O’Lear
Look, There’s on the Skyline the Smother
Look, there’s on the skyline the smother —
but we did not choose it, my brother.
The dragon’s dark ages and years
were forging both shackles and spears;
from all the unovercome races,
they chose us in their cruel chases.
And what will you take for the war:
the fast elven boat with the oar,
or longswords of Gondor to fight,
or full-moon wolves’ crying at night,
or strong oaken shields with their bosses,
the enemy crooked grave crosses,
or shameful restraining peace pacts,
or many a bright dwarven axe,
or bloodthirsty knives, Rohan-works,
or ugly mirages of orcs,
the hatred in your stubborn eyes,
the poisonous fear otherwise,
or dreams of the warm sunny Shire
on that snowy mountain’s high spire?
Дивися, крайнеба дими —
їх, брате, обрали не ми.
Драконівські темні часи
кайдани кують і списи,
із рою нескорених рас
вони таки вибрали нас.
Що візьмеш собі для війни:
чи спритні ельфійські човни,
чи ґондорські довгі мечі,
чи вовчі у повню плачі,
дубові незламні щити
чи скривлені вражі хрести,
ганебний уговтаний мир
чи відблиски гномських сокир,
роганські криваві ножі
чи орчі бридкі міражі,
ненависть уперту в очах,
отруйний ущипливий страх
чи згадку про сонячний Шир
з імлистих засніжених гір?
_____
But Why Aren’t We Dead, Our Lieutenant?
But why aren’t we dead, our Lieutenant?
We laid down our lives, as you taught:
we heavily bled, our Lieutenant,
bit into the ravings we got,
we sang psalms of old, our Lieutenant —
the songs of the wild virgin land,
expected the cold, our Lieutenant,
did everything at your command.
There’re milestones ahead, our Lieutenant,
beyond there’s a bridge to the blue.
But why aren’t we dead, our Lieutenant?
We got out, our brother. And you?
Swims like a colossus, Lieutenant,
above us a whale to the shores.
Look: there are the crosses, Lieutenant.
And somewhere among them is yours.
Чому ми живі, лейтенанте?
Ми гинули, як ти учив:
тонули в крові, лейтенанте,
вгризалися в марево снів,
співали псалми, лейтенанте —
мелодії диких степів,
чекали зими, лейтенанте,
робили все, як ти хотів.
Стовпи межові, лейтенанте,
за ними у небо мости.
Чому ми живі, лейтенанте?
Ми вибрались, брате. А ти?
Над нами кити, лейтенанте,
пливуть у поля на нічліг.
Дивися — хрести, лейтенанте.
І твій десь один серед них.
_____
Poems and translations from Між небом і війною (Between Heaven and War), Білка (Bilka, 2025)
Translator’s Note
Poetry comes to us even in times of war, in times of loss and suffering. But these are also times of heroism, times of great unification of people’s efforts around a common hope for Victory. This immeasurable spectrum of emotions needs artistic expression and immortalization in the memory of mankind. This was the case during the Trojan War, glorified by Homer, and during the era of the Crusades, and during the First and Second World Wars…
I discovered the poetry by Anatoliy Anatoliy (pen name) shortly after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, finding his poems on Facebook. He is a military man, a colonel, a philologist by education, graduated from the Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University. Born in Volyn, in the city of Lutsk in 1970. He is the author of the only collection of poems, Between the Heaven and War (2025). This is all I know about his biography. He does not reveal his real name, because he does not have the right to do so, since he serves in a secret military unit. The war in his poems is seen through the eyes of a courageous warrior who knows how to love and protect what he loves, and also knows how to see deeply into the essence of events. His poems conquered me with their genuineness, their expressive images that are imprinted in the memory, the energy of the word that speaks of the high in the terrible, painful and dirty reality of war. This is the true heroic poetry of our time. In addition, his works are very skilful in form, and the author’s significant cultural baggage is felt in them.
I chose this poem of his for translation, because here Russia’s war in Ukraine is shown through the lens of the ideas and plots of J. R. R. Tolkien, whose works are built on the constant struggle between Good and Evil and whose characters, light and dark, involuntarily evoke associations with the parties to the armed confrontation that is unfolding on the territory of Ukraine. It is not by chance that Russian soldiers are now called Orcs. And they themselves call Ukrainian military Elves, recognizing their own inferiority. I have translated a number of Tolkien’s works into Ukrainian (The Hobbit, The Fall of Arthur, The Fall of Gondolin, Beren and Lúthien and others) and I deeply feel these associations and this parallelism.
— Olena O’Lear
_____
Anatoliy Anatoliy (pen name) is a Ukrainian serviceman, Colonel, participant in the Russian-Ukrainian war, poet, and philologist. Born in the city of Lutsk (Volyn) in 1970. Graduated from the Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University. He is the author of the poetry collection Between the Heaven and War (2025).
Olena O’Lear (pen-name) is a Ukrainian poet, translator, literary critic, and editor, PhD. Born in Kyiv in 1976. The author of two poetry collections: My Hand Is on the Headboard… (1997) and Pilgrims’ Songs (2006). She works as a translator in Astrolabe Publishing, translates mainly from English (works by J. R. R. Tolkien, Joseph Conrad, Beatrix Potter, Oscar Wilde, William Butler Yeats and Joseph O`Connor) as well as from Old English (Beowulf). Awarded the Hryhorii Kochur (2012) and Maksym Rylskyi (2022) literary prizes and others.
