Boże, coś Polskę is a Polish Catholic patriotic hymn. When Poland gained its independence in 1918, it competed with Mazurek Dąbrowskiego for the right to be the national anthem of Poland. Its title is usually given as God Save Poland in English, as a hint to God Save the King. Literally it is translated as "Lord, who Poland..." from the first lines of the hymn "Boże! Coś Polskę przez tak liczne wieki / Otaczał blaskiem potęgi i chwały...", "Lord! Who for so many ages enclosed Poland with the light of power and glory...". Other translations of the title (and the text of the hymn) exist, such as "O Thou Lord God".
The original text was authored by Alojzy Feliński published in Gazeta Warszawska on July 20, 1816, to the glory of the monarch of the Congress Kingdom of Poland, i.e., the Russian Emperor Alexander I, which since 1818 was known under the title Pieśń narodowa za pomyślność króla [pl]. It caused a good deal of controversy and already in the next year the last line of the refrain was unofficially sung as Naszą ojczyznę racz nam wrócić, Panie ("deign to give us back our homeland, Lord") instead of Naszego króla zachowaj nam Panie! ("Save our king for us, Lord"). Over time the text was subject to other changes. In February 1817 a hymn Hymn do Boga o zachowanie wolności (incipit: O Ty! którego potężna prawica...) by Antoni Gorecki was published. From the latter two stanzas were included into Boże, coś Polskę.
Text sampler
Polish
The original text by Alojzy Feliński:
- Boże! Coś Polskę przez tak liczne wieki
- Otaczał blaskiem potęgi i chwały
- I tarczą swojej zasłaniał opieki
- Od nieszczęść, które przywalić ją miały
- Przed Twe ołtarze zanosim błaganie,
- Naszego Króla zachowaj nam Panie!
Final version:
- Boże, coś Polskę przez tak liczne wieki
- Otaczał blaskiem potęg i chwały,
- Coś ją osłaniał tarczą swej opieki
- Od nieszczęść, które przygnębić ją miały.
- Przed Twe ołtarze zanosim błaganie:
- Ojczyznę wolną racz nam wrócić, Panie!
Translations
From US congressional records:
- O God, who, for so many centuries
- Has granted to Poland the splendor of might and glory,
- Who, with the shield of Your protection,
- Saved her from the misfortune designed to destroy her;
- Before Your Altars, we offer our prayers:
- Return to us, O Lord, our free fatherland.
English version by Mary McDowell from Folk Songs of Many Peoples:
- O Thou Lord God, who for so many ages
- Didst give to Poland splendor and might
- Who shielded her from storms' wild rages
- And kept her ever in Thy holy sight.
- Father, we kneel to plead before Thy throne,
- Give to us freedom, give to us our own!
References
- Boże, coś Polskę Archived 2020-06-01 at the Wayback Machine, Katolicka Agencja Informacyjna
- Brian Porter–Szűcs [pl], Faith and Fatherland. Catholicism, Modernity, and Poland, 2011, ISBN 0199875537, p. 334
- ^ Boże, coś Polskę.., Modern Poland Foundation
- ^ A Sampler of Polish Folk Songs, American Convention of Polish Cultural Clubs, 1954
- A page from Gazeta Warsawska no. 58, July 20, 1816
- May 3, 1967 Congressional Record - House p. 11624