{"id":381,"date":"2008-12-03T12:00:15","date_gmt":"2008-12-03T16:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/?p=381"},"modified":"2008-12-03T12:00:15","modified_gmt":"2008-12-03T16:00:15","slug":"mazurek-dabrowskiego-polish-national-anthem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/mazurek-dabrowskiego-polish-national-anthem\/","title":{"rendered":"Mazurek D\u0105browskiego – Polish National Anthem"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday I had a very interesting, if a bit odd conversation with one of my friends. The friend in question is also very interesting, if a bit odd, and I suppose that goes a long way towards explaining her strange musical hobbies. Anyway, she walked up to me, hugged me and said: \u201cI really love your national song!\u201d<\/em>
\nAnna\u2019s response: \u201chuh? Come again?\u201d<\/em>
\nFriend: \u201cIt\u2019s so vibrant and\u2026\u201d<\/em>
\nAnna: \u201cYou mean, the national anthem of Poland?\u201d<\/em>
\nFriend: \u201cAnd it makes me want to be energetic and proud.\u201d<\/em>
\nAnna (mostly to herself): \u201cAre we really having this conversation?\u201d<\/em>
\nFriend: \u201cOf course not as proud as the Russian one, but that\u2019s OK, because the Polish one is more\u2026 more\u2026\u201d<\/em>
\nAnna: \u201cMore what?\u201d<\/em>
\nFriend: \u201cHopscotchy.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

And with that she disappeared into her office, humming under her nose what I think was supposed to be \u201cMazurek D\u0105browskiego<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Until yesterday, I didn\u2019t even know there were people out there who collected different versions of national anthems from various countries. And until yesterday, I didn\u2019t even think that the Polish anthem was anything special. And not just any special \u2013 hopscotchy special.<\/p>\n

Of course, she meant the upbeat melody of the lively mazurka that\u2019s our national song. It really does make you want to get up and dance. And it\u2019s because it was meant to be cheerful and uplifting. You see, when it was written back in 1797, two years after the Third Partition of Poland, people were gloomy and depressed. And the soldiers that were serving in the Polish Legions under General Jan Henryk D\u0105browski<\/strong> were even more depressed. So, they needed a happy song to boost their morale and cheer them up. And boy, did they need cheering up. The Polish Legions were part of the French Revolutionary Army, which was led by Napoleon Bonaparte in his conquest of Italy. You get the picture now, right?<\/p>\n

So the happy song was needed to remind the soldiers that even though the country of Poland had ceased to exist, the idea of Poland had not. As you can imagine, it soon became a hugely popular patriotic song, and then when Poland did reappear on the map of Europe, the song was officially adopted as the national anthem in 1926.<\/p>\n

The lyrics were written by a Polish poet J\u00f3zef Wybicki<\/strong>. He wasn\u2019t just any poet \u2013 he was also a general and a political figure. But you have to admit, the man had a way with words. The lyrics are quite simple, but oddly powerful. I just read the whole thing on the internet, because as most Poles, I only know the first verse by heart.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t worry, I\u2019m not going to sing it, other can do it much, much better. The English translation (based on translations of Davies and Kendall) is below.<\/p>\n