Recruit Song

The recruit (soldier) song is a thematic group of Ukrainian social-domestic lyric that arose after the introduction of conscription in imperial-ruled Ukraine (from 1797) and the long, often 25-year, military service. These songs are pervaded by deep tragism: the recruit's parting from family, home, and beloved is felt as a 'living death,' for return was nearly impossible. Motifs of forced 'shaving into the soldiery,' a mother's weeping, longing for the homeland, and the cruelty of drill dominate. Recruit songs are close in mood to funeral laments. Classic examples are 'Oh, Mother-Cherry-Tree' and 'On Sunday Early in the Morning.' The social songs of this cycle were collected by Ivan Franko and Osyp Rozdolsky. The theme of conscription and the soldier's misfortune echoes in Taras Shevchenko's poem 'The Soldier's Well' and in the prose of Marko Vovchok and Panas Myrny.