POLISH ANTHEM

TITLE "Mazurek Dąbrowskiego" (Dabrowski's Mazurka) "Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła" (Poland Has Not Yet Perished) "Pieśń Legionów Polskich we Włoszech" (Song of the Polish Legions in Italy) Words by: Józef Wybicki Music by: traditional Adopted: 1927

LYRICS 1. Poland has not yet perished. As long as we live, What foreign violence has seized, With sabres in hand we will retrieve. 1. Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła Kiedy my żyjemy. Co nam obca przemoc wzięła, Szablą odbierzemy. “… the nation does not need a territory to be a nation, it only needs a group of people. This idea was a timely one, as Poland had only been partitioned out of existence only two years earlier. Several more times in subsequent Polish history would an independent Polish nation appear then disappear from the map, which could explain why the song resonates with Poles even today.”

POLAND BORDERS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtkEwjiNl5k&feature=related

CHORUS: Marsz, marsz, Dąbrowski, Z ziemi włoskiej do Polski. Za Twoim przewodem, Złączym się z narodem. March! March, Dąbrowski! From Italy to Poland! Under your command Unite us as a people. “… (the song) was originally meant to boost the morale of Polish soldiers serving under General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski in the Polish Legions, which were part of the French Revelutionary Army led by General Napoleon Bonaparte in its conquest of Italy.”

2. Przejdziem Wisłę, przejdziem Wartę, Będziem Polakami 2. Przejdziem Wisłę, przejdziem Wartę, Będziem Polakami. Dał nam przykład Bonaparte, Jak zwyciężać mamy. 2. Cross the Vistula and Warta We shall be Poles; Bonaparte has shown us The way to victory. ” The route that Dąbrowski and his legions hoped to follow upon leaving Italy is hinted at by the words "we'll cross the Vistula, we'll cross the Warta", two major rivers flowing through the parts of Poland that were in Austrian and Prussian hands at the time.”

3. Like Czarniecki to Poznan, After the war with the Swede, To save our country, We shall return by sea. 3. Jak Czarniecki do Poznania Po szwedzkim zaborze Dla ojczyzny ratowania Wrócim się przez morze. “Stefan Czarniecki was a 17th-century military commander, famous for his role in driving the Swedish army out of Poland after an occupation that had left the country in ruins and is remembered by Poles as the Deluge. With the outbreak of a Dano-Swedish war, he continued his fight against Sweden in Denmark, from where he "returned across the sea" to fight the invaders alongside the king who was then at the Royal Castle in Poznan.”

4. Już tam ojciec do swej Basi Mówi zapłakany – Słuchaj jeno, pono nasi Biją w tarabany. 4. A father, in tears, says to his Basia: "Just listen, it seems that our people are beating the drums." ”Basia (a female name) and her father are fictional characters supposed to evoke a sentimental image of women and elderly men waiting for Polish soldiers to return home and liberate their fatherland.”

Did you know that… ? The Polish anthem familiar mazurka melody and its message - a call to join the fight for independence - inspired numerous 19th century patriotic songs and national hymns of the Slavonic nations under foreign rule (some of which would later become Yugoslavia, which could explain the similar melody of the former Yugoslav anthem.) The opening line of the lyrics was also borrowed by Ukraine (which, of course, speaks of the Ukraine not perishing rather than Poland.)