The creativity of the award winner of the Taras Shevchenko National Prize in the domain of literature Dmytro Kremin (1953-2019) is a vivid phenomenon of modern Ukrainian literature and culture. His poetic heritage has a special meaning after the poet passed away in May of this year. Now it is worth to be considered and conceived as a kind of his testament left to descendants by the outstanding master of the imaginative word.
Dmytro Kremin`s legacy has always been in the centre of attention of critical literary practice, his poems evoked a contradictory attitude towards himself, thanks to it the critics` reviewers were so brilliant and emotional. But after the poet`s death, there is a need for a literary study of his heritage and a conclusion to the study of the work of an outstanding poet on a qualitatively new level.
Among the poet’s many works, the poem holds a special place. It was created before long after Ukraine gained independence. Appeal to the people and the country`s history, Dmytro Kremin comprehends the origins of their heavy fate. The philosophical approach to understanding concrete historical phenomena allows the poet to look profoundly into the past, to define the influence on the present, and the origins of our young state`s problems.
A wide range of historical figures, to which the author refers, characterizes the history of Ukraine in its most noticeable facts.
The analysis of the poem is philological. The figurative system of the work is perceived in the unity of form and content. Thus it is possible to identify the aesthetic singularity of the work and its patriotic directivity. The study proves that the appeal of the patriotic poet to history should be received as a kind of poetic admonition, an attempt to draw attention to the tragic mistakes for the people`s fate to avoid them in the contemporary history of Ukraine. The poet’s call to live for the sake of the Motherland, to conscientious service to the country and people reflects his moral and aesthetic position and becomes his contribution to the development of the country.
We consider that the article can be useful for researchers, lecturers, school teachers, students, and everyone interested in the creativity of the outstanding Ukrainian poet.