Kobzar (poetry collection)

Kobzar (Ukrainian: Кобзар, lit. '"The bard"') is a book of poems by Ukrainian poet and painter Taras Shevchenko, first published by Shevchenko in 1840 in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire. Shevchenko, born in Moryntsi, Kyiv Governorate, in what is now Ukraine, was nicknamed The Kobzar (also the name of a Ukrainian social role) after the publishing of this collection. From that time on this title has been applied to Shevchenko's poetry in general and acquired a symbolic meaning of the Ukrainian national and literary revival.

The first publication consisted of eight poems: "Думи мої, думи мої, лихо мені з вами" (My thoughts, my thoughts, you are my doom), "Перебендя" (Perebendya), "Катерина" (Kateryna), "Тополя" (Poplar tree), "Думка" (Thought), "Нащо мені чорні брови" (Why should I have Black Eyebrows), "До Основ'яненка" (To Osnovyanenko), "Іван Підкова" (Ivan Pidkova), and "Тарасова ніч" (Taras's night).

There were three editions of the Kobzar during Shevchenko's lifetime, with the editions published in 1840, 1844, and in 1860. The last two editions included Hajdamaki, another famous poem by Taras Shevchenko, published in 1841. The 1844 edition was entitled as Чигиринський Кобзар і Гайдамаки ("Chyhyryn Kobzar and Hajdamaki" or "Kobzar of Chyhyryn and Hajdamaki").

Censorship in the Russian Empire prompted publication of Shevchenko's poetry in lands outside the Russian Empire's control, such as in Prague (now in the Czech Republic) or editions in areas that are now German.