Chubynsky's poem was first officially published in 1863 when it appeared in the fourth issue of Lviv's journal "Meta". Soon after the poem became popular in the territories corresponding to today's Western Ukraine, it was noticed by the Ukrainian clergy. Inspired by Pavlo Chubynsky's poem, one of them, Fr. Mykhailo Verbytsky of the Greek-Catholic Church, a prominent Ukrainian composer of his times, decided to write music for it. In 1865 Chubynsky's poem was first published together with Verbytsky's sheet music. The first choral performance of the piece was in 1864 at the Ukraine Theatre in Lviv.