5
votes
Why did Maksim Tank's sun dial use his own shadow?
In the times when there were no clocks they used to tell the time measuring own shadow (one can use a stick and make a sundial but if your are somewhere away, you're also away from the stick but your ...
- 735
4
votes
Accepted
What is Krosyn?
It turns out that I should have read the introduction more carefully. Krosyn was, in fact, a small village in Belarus. From the anthology's introduction:
In 1828, when a liberalminded Catholic priest ...
4
votes
Accepted
Why does this poem seem to indicate that Belarus is a large coal producer?
The poem Byelorussian Pine dates from 1947. Auramčyk had been captured by the Germans in 1942, and spent much of the remainder of World War II working as slave labor in the coal mines of the Ruhr. ...
- 8,861
4
votes
Accepted
What was the original rhyming scheme of "Do not shun me..."?
Yes, it's the same ABAB pattern.
Original on wikisource:
Не цурайся мяне, панічок,
Што далонь пакрываюць мазолі;
Мазоль — працавітых значок,
Не заразе цябе ён ніколі.
- 1,571
4
votes
Accepted
What is Nioman water?
Nioman is the Belarusian name for a river that rises in central Belarus and flows north-west through Lithuania and then along the Lithuania–Kaliningrad border to the Baltic. It is also known as the ...
- 53.5k
3
votes
Accepted
Why is parched grain that grows anyway a metaphor for the Belarusian people?
This probably refers to the same cultural awakening that I explored in answer to your previous question.
in 1882, there was a general 'awakening' of cultural pride (and possibly there was a build up ...
- 18.6k
3
votes
Accepted
Is Belarus actually hard to farm?
Habitats and soils of Belarus
It's true that the land of Belarus is "spread widely with forests and marshes" and a lot of the soil is sandy.
The book Belarus and Moldova: country studies (...
- 71.1k
3
votes
Accepted
What is the significance of the 40-year period referred to in this Francisak Bahusevic poem?
I'll caveat this answer with the obvious statement that this what I concluded from searching and reading online in response to the question and not from any deeper or preexisting knowledge of the ...
- 18.6k
3
votes
Accepted
Why does Pimien Pancanka refer to a point in Georgia when talking about Iran and Belarus?
In Russian tradition the Caucasian range is a last frontier. Everything beyond it is a romantic cloud. Don't pay attention to geography.
The two peaks mentioned in the poem in turn symbolize the ...
- 1,002
3
votes
Accepted
What does the word "Gnomica" mean in this Siarhiej Dziarhaj poem?
It is difficult to find Belarusian poetry online, and I have not been able to find the original poem by Dziarhaj. So I will assume that the translated version quoted here, from the poetry anthology ...
- 8,861
2
votes
Did Maksim Tank go to prison?
Yes, Maksim Tank (real name Jaŭhien Skurko) spent about two years in prison in all. His home village of Piĺkaŭščyna was in Western Belorussia, which was part of Poland between the world wars. ...
- 22.1k
2
votes
Accepted
Why does Arkadź Kulašoǔ live on Moscow Street, and where is this?
I found an article in Russian by vadim_i_z:
A little-known high street in the center of Minsk. Moscow Street: transport, houses and people
where the author writes about this street in Minsk. He also ...
- 735
2
votes
Accepted
What kind of tower was Ales Dudar referring to in "The Tower"?
What it was before we cannot know. It is said very clearly.
Now it serves as a radio station. Or, rather, soon will serve:
І сёння к вежы прывязалі
драты ўстрывожаную даль...
О, прадзеды, каб вы ...
- 1,002
1
vote
Accepted
What is a partisan hut?
Evidently, there was an extensive Belarusian partisan force opposing Nazi occupation (apparently involving as many as 153,700 partisans). The Wikipedia article I link to mentions that one of the major ...
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