Historiosophical Reflection on the Fate of Ukrainein Yurii Klen’s Poem The Cursed Years

Abstract

The article examines the historiosophical reflection on the fate of Ukraine in Yurii Klen’s poem The Cursed Years. It demonstrates that the narrator records a personal experience of the catastrophic transformations that engulfed Ukrainian society during the era of revolutions, the civil war, Bolshevik terror, and Stalinist repressions. The author, destined to follow the path of an émigré and to witness the destruction of his native land, creates a large-scale artistic testimony to an epoch marked by spiritual and physical devastation. It is noted that The Cursed Years combines autobiographical motifs with a philosophical interpretation of the historical process. Through a system of symbols, historical allusions, and expressive imagery, Yurii Klen recreates the atmosphere of fear, dehumanization, and violence that prevailed in Ukraine under the totalitarian regime. He shows how the “cursed years” destroy traditional ways of life, break human destinies, and deprive people of their right to memory and freedom. It is further established that, despite the tragic nature of the depiction, an essential component of the poem is the poet’s inner resistance: the desire to preserve spiritual identity, to rethink lived experience, and to bear witness to the truth about the national tragedy. The poem thus functions not only as an artistic document of its time but also as a moral act directed against oblivion and the falsification of history. Accordingly, The Cursed Years is not merely a poetic reaction to the dramatic events of the twentieth century but a profound spiritual and intellectual work that combines personal testimony with a generalized portrayal of the trials endured by the Ukrainian people. The “cursed years” are years of repression, famine, cruelty, and suffering. With pain, the poet recalls and recounts the repressive machinery whose victims were Ukrainian peasants and the intelligentsia.