Polskie Radio Wrocław reporter Piotr Słowiński checked whether middle school students from Bolesławiec knew the words of the Polish national anthem well. He asked students about it during the “The National Anthem Unites Generations” ceremony organized by Bolesławiec’s Municipal Middle School No. 2 named after Poles Deported to Siberia.
Piotr Słowiński’s report was broadcast on April 30 at 1:00 p.m. on Polskie Radio’s Jedynka News. The report begins at 1:16.
The reporter asked whether the students knew what the word “taraban” meant and in what context it appeared in Dąbrowski’s Mazurka.
– Do you know the anthem? – the journalist asked.
– Yes – the students replied.
– So what is a taraban? Where does it appear in the anthem? – he pressed.
– As hetmans tarambują, right? – one of the girls replied.
Listen to an excerpt from the conversation:
Middle school students, do not worry that you do not know or understand the anthem’s final stanza. In Poland, the leader of a large, governing and highly patriotic party does not even know the words of the first stanza. To the teachers and organizers: take comfort in a saying that we will paraphrase: you cannot boast about either your husband or your middle school student!
For young people having trouble with the archaism “taraban,” we explain that it refers to a drum beaten by troops approaching Poland’s borders, giving hope of liberation. “There, the father already speaks to his Basia, weeping – Just listen, supposedly our men are beating the drums.” Music has accompanied soldiers during battles since time immemorial. Soldiers listen to it now, too, but on iPods.
You can listen to Polskie Radio’s Jedynka at: https://www.polskieradio.pl/7,Jedynka