Ivan Pidkova (poem)
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Ivan Pidkova (Ukrainian: Іван Підкова) is an early poem by Ukrainian author Taras Shevchenko, written approximately in 1839 in Saint Petersburg. It was first printed in 1840 in Shevchenko's Kobzar.[1] The poem presents a fictionalized depiction of Zaporozhian Cossacks under the leadership of Ivan Pidkova.
The work was dedicated to Shevchenko's friend, Russian painter Vasily Sternberg.[2] The author's inspiration in writing a poem dedicated to Cossack campaigns probably came from historical works by Izmail Sreznevsky and Dmytro Bantysh-Kamensky, History of Ruthenians, Description of Ukraine by Guillaume Le Vasseur de Beauplan, works of fiction such as Taras Bulba by Nikolai Gogol, stories by Mykola Kostomarov and Michał Czajkowski, as well as Ukrainian folk dumas. After Shevchenko's return from exile, in 1859 he created a new version of the poem with some edits and a different name, but it was not allowed to be printed by authorities.[1]