About the work
The Forest Song (Ukrainian: Lisova pisnja) is a verse drama by Lesya Ukrainka. She wrote it in 1911 while convalescing in Kutaisi in the Caucasus; it was published in 1912, but its stage premiere did not take place until 22 November 1918, at the Kyiv Drama Theatre, five years after the author's death.
Plot
Set in a forest clearing in Ukrainka's native region of Volhynia, the play has the forest spirit Mavka fall in love with the peasant Lukash. The encounter between the enchanted world of nature spirits and the sober realities of human village life ends badly: Lukash returns to the constraints of his everyday life, while Mavka pays dearly for her love.
Cultural significance
Inspired by Gerhart Hauptmann's The Sunken Bell and by homesickness for Volhynia, The Forest Song is considered one of the central neo-romantic works of Ukrainian literature. The material has repeatedly been adapted into opera and ballet, most recently into a Ukrainian animated film in 2023.