Forgetting Former Pride
In this article, I reflect on Lesya Ukrainka’s poem “As a child ” and how its famous lines about pride and laughter are often misunderstood as a call to emotional toughness. I explore how, for the poet, pride was once a shield and laughter a mask to conceal pain. In adulthood, however, she consciously chooses tears over ironic distance, embracing vulnerability instead of self-protective strength. I connect this shift to our contemporary tendency to hide personal and collective wounds behind smiles, abstractions, and social media images. Ultimately, the piece invites readers to see maturity not as suppressing pain, but as having the courage to feel and express it honestly.
