The Kobzar met with mixed reaction. Chauvinistic elements of society scoffed at his efforts and suggested Shevchenko cease writing in the Ukrainian language, calling him a "peasants' poet", an epithet which never bothered the poet himself.

The more enlightened, though, greeted Shevchenko's poetry for its lyricism, deep feeling and love of his native land and people. In Ukraine, Shevchenko's poetry became an almost overnight sensation.

The appearance of the Kobzar, aside from being a turning point in Shevchenko's life, was also a milestone for Ukrainian language and culture, often denigratingly referred to as "Little Russian", giving it a legitimacy which had to that point been denied or ridiculed. The appearance of Ivan Kotlyarevsky's Aeneida in the early 19th Century was regarded as the true beginning of Ukrainian literature; the appearance of the Kobzar and subsequent works by Shevchenko rounded

out the process.

It should be noted, however, that Shevchenko was not exclusively Ukrainian in his work. A few poems, his drama Nazar Stodoyla and his prose were written in Russian. However, the bulk of his work was in the Ukrainian language. And his themes were overwhelmingly based on Ukrainian history, tradition and conditions of serfdom, the fate of common people.

This latter point, as well as the obvious despise he feels for the Tsarist system and his ridicule of its aristocracy, has led some critics to view Shevchenko as a "nationalist", as anti-Russian. And there is no doubt that Shevchenko's poetry, as it develops, does increasingly call on the Ukrainian people to overthrow their rulers. What should be noted, however, is that Shevchenko's heroes include the Czech Jan Hus (The Heritic) and the oppressed peoples of the Caucasus (in the poem of the same name), and that he attacks not only Russian masters (The Dream), but Ukrainian masters as well, (To the Dead, the Living and the Yet Unborn). For Shevchenko, the enemy is always the oppressor, regardless of ethnicity, a view reinforced by his 1843 visit to Ukraine. During this visit, already as an adult, Shevchenko came face to face with the cruel realities of the economic, social and national oppression of the Tsarist regime.

Further adding credence to this international aspect of Shevchenko's political attitudes is the fact of his involvement, in 1846-47, in the Kyrylo-Metody Society, an underground anti-serfdom grouping with Pan-Slavist tendencies.

Following his visit to Ukraine, Shevchenko returned to St. Petersburg to finish his studies and to continue writing and publishing poetry, as well as to produce a series of etchings entitled Pictorial Ukraine. He graduated from the Academy of Arts in 1845 and almost immediately returned to Ukraine.

In Kiev, Shevchenko first made contact with the Kyrylo-Metody Society and quickly became one of the leaders of its radical faction. While some members of the Society saw reform as the solution to the ills of Tsarist society, the radical faction saw rebellion and popular uprising as the sole means of overthrowing their masters.

During this period, Shevchenko was hired by the Archeological Commission to travel through Kiev, Poltava and Volyn provinces to record in sketches and paintings significant cultural sites.

In 1847, the members of the Kyrylo-Metody Society were betrayed by a police informer and Shevchenko was arrested on April 5 and transported to St. Petersburg for disposition by the Tsarist authorities. The more liberal, or reformist, members of the Society apologized for their actions and

received very lenient sentences. Shevchenko reftised to repent for his actions, which included reading subversive and "openly unlawful" verses, some of which ridiculed the Tsar's family. In his defence, Shevchenko denounced Tsarist repression in Ukraine and throughout the Empire.

Shevchenko received a sentence of exile as a rank and file soldier to Orenburg in the East. He was to be kept under strict scrutiny so that "from him wouldn't come, in any form, any outrageous or libellous works". To this order, the Tsar personally added, "He is to be under the most strict surveillance, with prohibition to write and to paint".

It is interesting to note that Shevchenko's colleague in the radical wing of the Society, M. Hulak, who also refused to repent, received a three year jail sentence. Shevchenko's sentence, if Tsar Nicholas I had not died ten years later, would have been for life. His treatment by the Tsarist regime is perhaps the greatest possible tribute to Shevchenko's dedication and effectiveness in the cause of freedom.