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Czerwone maki na Monte Cassino

Feliks Konarski (words) / Alfred Schütz (music) · 1944

Written the night before the decisive assault on Monte Cassino in May 1944, this song commemorates the Polish soldiers who died taking the monastery. One of the most emotionally powerful Polish songs.

Lyrics & Translation

Polski English
Verse 1
Czy widzisz te gruzy na szczycie? Tam wróg twój się kryje jak szczur. Musicie, musicie, musicie za kark wziąć i strącić go z chmur. I poszli szaleni zażarci, i poszli zabijać i mścić, i poszli jak zawsze uparci, jak zawsze za honor się bić.
Do you see those ruins on the summit? Your enemy hides there like a rat. You must, you must, you must grab him by the scruff and hurl him from the clouds. And they went, crazed and ferocious, and they went to kill and to avenge, and they went, stubborn as ever, as always, to fight for honour.
Chorus
Czerwone maki na Monte Cassino zamiast rosy piły polską krew. Po tych makach szedł żołnierz i ginął, lecz od śmierci silniejszy był gniew. Przejdą lata i wieki przeminą, pozostaną ślady dawnych dni i wszystkie maki na Monte Cassino czerwieńsze będą, bo z polskiej wzrosną krwi.
Red poppies on Monte Cassino instead of dew drank Polish blood. Through those poppies the soldier walked and died, but his anger was stronger than death. Years will pass and ages will fade, traces of those days will remain and all the poppies on Monte Cassino will be redder, for they grew from Polish blood.
Verse 2
Runęli przez ogień straceńcy, niejeden z nich dostał i padł, jak ci z Samosierry szaleńcy, jak ci spod Racławic sprzed lat. Runęli impetem szalonym i doszli. I udał się szturm. I sztandar swój biało-czerwony zatknęli na gruzach wśród chmur.
The condemned men charged through the fire, more than one was hit and fell, like those madmen from Somosierra, like those from Racławice of years past. They charged with furious momentum and made it. The assault succeeded. And their white-and-red banner they planted in the ruins among the clouds.
Verse 3
Czy widzisz ten rząd białych krzyży? Tam Polak z honorem brał ślub. Idź naprzód, im dalej, im wyżej, tym więcej ich znajdziesz u stóp. Ta ziemia do Polski należy, choć Polska daleko jest stąd, bo wolność krzyżami się mierzy, historia ten jeden ma błąd.
Do you see that row of white crosses? There a Pole pledged his honour. Walk on — the further, the higher, the more of them you will find at your feet. This land belongs to Poland, though Poland is far from here, for freedom is measured in crosses — history has this one flaw.

  • Vocabulary

    • mak — poppy (plural: maki)
    • gruz — rubble / ruins
    • szczyt — summit / peak
    • gniew — anger / wrath
    • straceńcy — men condemned to die / desperadoes (singular: strzeniec)
    • zażarci — ferocious / fierce (participle used as adjective)
    • mścić — to avenge / to take revenge
    • szturm — assault / storm
    • sztandar — banner / standard (military flag)
    • zatknęli — they planted / stuck (past tense of zatknąć)
    • czerwieńsze — redder (comparative of czerwony)

    Grammar note

    "Musicie" is the second-person plural of "musieć" (must) — addressing the soldiers collectively. "Czerwieńsze" is the comparative form of "czerwony" (red): czerwony → czerwieńszy. "Przejdą" and "przeminą" are perfective future forms — common in solemn, elevated register.

    Cultural context

    The Battle of Monte Cassino (May 1944) was one of the bloodiest Allied campaigns of WWII. The Polish II Corps under General Anders captured the monastery after four months of failed Allied assaults. The red poppies growing in the shell-pocked soil became a symbol of the sacrifice — they are said to have bloomed red from the blood of the fallen.

    Intermediate patriotichistoryWWIIculture

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