"Poland Is Not Yet Lost", known in Polish as "Mazurek Dąbrowskiego" (; ) and formerly the "Song of the Polish Legions in Italy", is the national anthem of Poland.

The original lyrics were written by Józef Wybicki in Reggio Emilia, in Northern Italy, between 16 and 19 July 1797, two years after the Third Partition of Poland marked the end of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Its initial purpose was to raise the morale of Jan Henryk Dąbrowski's Polish Legions that served with Napoleon Bonaparte in the Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars. The song expressed the idea that the nation of Poland, despite lacking an independent state of their own, had not disappeared as long as the Polish people endured and fought in its name. 'Poland has not perished yet', 'Poland is not lost yet', 'Poland is not yet lost', and 'Poland has not yet succumbed'. "Poland has not yet died", suggesting a more violent cause of the nation's possible death. Wybicki's original manuscript was in the hands of his descendants until February 1944, when it was lost in Wybicki's great-great-grandson, Johann von Roznowski's home in Charlottenburg during the Allied bombing of Berlin. The manuscript is known today only from facsimile copies, twenty-four of which were made in 1886 by Edward Rożnowski, Wybicki's grandson, who donated them to Polish libraries.

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! English translation

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|<poem>I

Poland has not yet succumbed.

As long as we remain,

What the foe by force has seized,

Sword in hand we'll gain.

<small>Chorus:</small>

𝄆 March! March, Dabrowski!

March from Italy to Poland!

Under your command

We shall reach our land. 𝄇

II

Cross the Vistula and Warta

And Poles we shall be;

We've been shown by Bonaparte

Ways to victory.

III

As Czarniecki Poznan town regains,

Fighting with the Swede,

To free our fatherland from chains.

We shall return by sea.

IV

And the father to Basia,

Then says and crying:

"Listen to that, it's our boys

playing the drums!"

</poem>

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Original text by Józef Wybicki

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! Polish original

The composer of "" is not known, though most contemporary performances of it utilize a modern arrangement by composer Kazimierz Sikorski. The melody is most probably Wybicki's adaptation of a folk tune that had already been popular during the second half of the 18th century. The composition used to be erroneously attributed to Michał Kleofas Ogiński, who was known to have written a march for Dąbrowski's legions. Several historians confused Ogiński's "" ('March for the Polish Legions') with Wybicki's mazurka, possibly due to the mazurka's chorus "March, march, Dąbrowski", until Ogiński's sheet music for the march was discovered in 1938 and proven to be a different piece of music than Poland's national anthem. However, Karol Lipiński used it in an overture for his opera Kłótnia przez zakład composed and staged in Lviv .

was the next who arranged "" for the piano. The arrangement, accompanied by the lyrics in Polish and French, was published 1829 in Paris.

As such, it is protected by law which declares that treating the national symbols "with reverence and respect" is the "right and obligation" of every Polish citizen and all state organs, institutions and organizations. Color guards pay respect to the anthem by dipping their banners. In the words of Hugo Kołłątaj, a notable Polish political thinker of the time, "Poland no longer belonged to currently extant nations,"

The anthem is mentioned twice in Pan Tadeusz, the Polish national epic written by Adam Mickiewicz in 1834, but set in the years 1811–1812. The author makes the first reference to the song when Tadeusz, the main protagonist, returns home and, recalling childhood memories, pulls the string of a chiming clock to hear the "old Dąbrowski's Mazurka" once again. Music boxes and musical clocks playing the melody of Poland Is Not Yet Lost belonged to popular patriotic paraphernalia of that time. The song appears in the epic poem again when Jankiel, a Jewish dulcimerist and ardent Polish patriot, plays the mazurka in the presence of General Dąbrowski himself. The Polish pianist Artur Rubinstein, who was to perform the opening concert at the inauguration, began the concert by stating his deep disappointment that the conference did not have a delegation from Poland. Rubinstein later described becoming overwhelmed by a blind fury and angrily pointing out to the public the absence of the Polish flag. He then sat down to the piano and played "Poland Is Not Yet Lost" loudly and slowly, repeating the final part in a great thunderous forte. When he had finished, the public rose to their feet and gave him a great ovation.

Over 60 years later, on 22 September 2005, Aleksander Kwaśniewski, President of Poland, said:

Influence

During the European Revolutions of 1848, "Poland Is Not Yet Lost" won favor throughout Europe as a revolutionary anthem. This led the Slovak poet Samo Tomášik to write the ethnic anthem, "Hej, Sloveni", based on the slowed melody of the Polish national anthem. It was later adopted by the Prague Slavic Congress as the Pan-Slavic Anthem. During the Second World War, a translation of this anthem became the national anthem of Yugoslavia, and later, Serbia and Montenegro. The similarity of the anthems sometimes confused these countries' football or volleyball matches. However, after the 2006 split between the two, neither Serbia nor Montenegro kept the song as its national anthem, instead choosing "Bože pravde" and "Oj, svijetla majska zoro" respectively. The Polish national anthem is also notable for influencing the lyrics of the national anthem of Ukraine.

The anthem is played on First Programme of Polish Radio every day at midnight.

The line Poland is not yet lost has become proverbial in some languages. For example, in German, <span lang="de">noch ist Polen nicht verloren</span> is a common saying meaning all is not lost'. In Swedish, the similar phrase <span lang="sv">än är inte Polen förlorat</span> is also used in the same context.

Additionally, the Italian anthem "" contains a reference to the Partitions of Poland by Prussia, Austria and Russia, due to the two countries' close relations.

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

  • Poland: "Mazurek Dąbrowskiego" (Poland Is Not Yet Lost), Audio, information, lyrics (archive link)
  • Museum of the National Anthem at Będomin – A museum dedicated to the National Anthem (Polish)
  • The Polish National Anthem – The promotional website "Polska" features a page on the anthem with an instrumental version.
  • Hymn Polski – The website for the Center for Citizenship Education features a page on the anthem than includes vocal and instrumental versions.
  • Virtual Library of Polish Literature – A copy of the oldest-known recording of the anthem, 1926 by Ignacy Dygas.
  • Russian-Records.com – Edison phonograph cylinder record performed by Stanisław Bolewski.