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Mazurek Dąbrowskiego

Traditional (words: Józef Wybicki, 1797) · 1797

Poland's national anthem, written in 1797 during the Napoleonic era. The first verse and chorus are what every Polish person knows by heart — essential for any serious learner.

Lyrics & Translation

Polski English
Verse 1
Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła, kiedy my żyjemy. Co nam obca przemoc wzięła, szablą odbierzemy.
Poland has not yet perished, so long as we still live. What the foreign force has taken from us, we shall retrieve with the sabre.
Chorus
Marsz, marsz, Dąbrowski, z ziemi włoskiej do Polski. Za twoim przewodem złączym się z narodem.
March, march, Dąbrowski, from the Italian land to Poland. Under your command we shall rejoin the nation.
Verse 2
Przejdziem Wisłę, przejdziem Wartę, będziem Polakami. Dał nam przykład Bonaparte, jak zwyciężać mamy.
We shall cross the Vistula, cross the Warta, we shall be Poles. Bonaparte has given us the example of how we are to vanquish.
Verse 3
Jak Czarniecki do Poznania po szwedzkim zaborze, dla ojczyzny ratowania wrócim się przez morze.
Like Czarniecki to Poznań, after the Swedish partition, for the saving of the homeland, we shall return across the sea.
Verse 4
Już tam ojciec do swej Basi mówi zapłakany – słuchaj jeno, pono nasi biją w tarabany.
Already there a father to his Basia says in tears – listen, it seems our men are beating the drums.

  • Vocabulary

    • zginęła — perished / died (feminine past tense of zginąć)
    • obca przemoc — foreign force / foreign violence
    • szablą — with the sabre (instrumental case)
    • odbierzemy — we shall retrieve / take back
    • przewód — command / leadership
    • złączym się — we shall unite / rejoin
    • naród — nation / people
    • zabór — partition / annexation (of Polish territory)
    • ojczyzna — homeland / fatherland
    • wrócim się — we shall return (archaic future form)
    • zapłakany — in tears / tearful
    • jeno — just / only (archaic)
    • pono — apparently / it seems (archaic)
    • tarabany — drums (archaic, from Turkish)

    Grammar note

    The anthem uses archaic future tense contractions: odbierzemy, przejdziem (we shall cross), złączym się (we shall unite), wrócim się (we shall return). The instrumental case appears in "szablą" — using a sabre as a tool. "Jeno" and "pono" are archaisms that learners will encounter in historical texts.

    Cultural context

    Written by Józef Wybicki for General Dąbrowski's Polish Legions serving Napoleon in Italy. The opening line "Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła" became the enduring motto of Polish resilience — the country had just been partitioned out of existence.

    Intermediate patrioticnational-anthemtraditionalhistory

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