Poem To the Mower
In Vilna, a weekly newspaper Nasha Niva began publishing on 3 November, 1906. This periodical played an important role in the social life of the Belarusian people and greatly influenced on the personal fate of Yanka Kupala and his work.
On 11 May, 1907 the Nasha Niva published the poem To the Mower (Касцу) (PDF), which became the first appearance of the poet in the Belarusian press. Yanka Kupala touches the theme of the belarusian people, which he had begun in his previous works – My Destiny (Мая доля), The Peasant (Мужык), etc. The matter concerns idea to make a peasan free the peasant, to awaken his creative spirit and ability to stand up for his human interests.
The poem To the Mower is interesting for its many-sided contents. The author recalls his character that scythe, pitchfork, chain were not only farmer’s tools, but at the same time they often were his arms:
Folk were clever long ago,
Didn’t shoot rifles, oh dear no!
Scythes they used like sweep swords,
Armed thus off they went to the wars!
Tap, tap, tap!
Off they went to the wars.
After a while, answering a question about the sources of his creativity, Y. Kupala wrote: "What spurred me on the writing this poem? I was inspired by everything: social and national offences, and Belarusian nature, and the songs which I heard in fields, at weddings and parties".
