Between Tradition and Innovation: Olena Pchilka’s Versification

Abstract

Olena Pchilka (1849-1930), writer, editor, public figure, is a
significant phenomenon in the history of Ukrainian culture at the end of the 19th and
the beginning of the 20th century. She worked tirelessly to enrich the spiritual
heritage of her people.
But, unfortunately, her poetry is underestimated in Ukrainian science. Most
scholars pay attention to the writer's life and creative biography, her educational and
pedagogical views, her connections with folklore. Instead, the versification of the
poet has not been studied for a long time.
The study of versification of Olena Pchilka’s poems is based on the
achievements of national and world science of versification.
Olena Pchilka, like most Ukrainian poets of the 80's of the 19th century,
favored syllabo-tonic poetry. Syllabic metre was on the periphery of her poetry
interests.