It’s strange, but there aren’t that many songs widely associated with Belarus and the Belarusian people. Most likely, the first songs that come to mind are from the Soviet era, performed by “Pesnyary” with Mulyavin or “Syabry.” I imagine “Belovezhskaya Pushcha” and “Alesya” would be among the first to be mentioned.
What’s rather disheartening is that even Belarusians themselves would likely struggle to recall much. And the piece I want to highlight now isn’t even recognized by many as a song—let alone a Belarusian one. It’s not so simple.
This piece is most commonly known simply as “Ogiński’s Polonaise.” Far fewer people know its second title, “Farewell to the Homeland.”
Even its connection to Belarus is not entirely straightforward. Composer Michał Ogiński is now often considered Polish. This particular polonaise (originally titled simply “Polonaise No. 13,” complete with that “lucky” number) was composed in 1794. According to legend, he wrote it as he was leaving the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth after the Russian Empire crushed the Kościuszko Uprising (and there’s debate about whether Kościuszko himself was Polish or Belarusian).
The surname “Ogiński” is indeed more Polish, though the family itself was of Polish-Lithuanian origin and, incidentally, one of the branches of the Rurik dynasty. I won’t delve into the life of this composer and diplomat, as what matters to us is that he lived on the territory of modern Belarus. And he bid farewell to his homeland as he was leaving what is now Belarus. This is why he is considered as much Belarusian as Polish.
I’ve known and loved this music since childhood, even without knowing its name. Interestingly, this polonaise is played by Leopold the Cat in the very first, puppet-based, episode of the Soviet animated “series.”
Originally, the music had no lyrics. Later, it was turned into a song, performed by “Pesnyary” in Russian, Belarusian, and even Polish. There’s also a Ukrainian version.
The Belarusian version, performed by Veronika Kruglova and Dmitry Vaitsyushkevich, is closest to my heart. I love it deeply. It carries the sorrow of parting and something profoundly native—something you feel even more sharply and distinctly when far from your homeland.
Below is the song itself and its lyrics in Belarusian translated to English, presented as they were on the CDs containing the track. At the time, the BNF (Belarusian People’s Front) party actively attempted to introduce a variant of the Belarusian language called “Tarashkevitsa,” in place of the official “school” orthography, which they called “Narkomovka.” It never really caught on widely (and personally, I don’t understand why they even tried—at that time, few wrote competently in standard Belarusian, and retraining people seemed counterproductive). I won’t judge which variant is better or worse, but I found the school variant more familiar, and “Tarashkevitsa,” with its norms, felt jarring to both the ear and the eye. Perhaps that’s why it didn’t take root, combined with other rather aggressive initiatives by the BNF, which, unfortunately, alienated many Belarusians from the party and the Belarusian language instead of fostering a revival of national identity. But again, that’s just my personal opinion. The song, however, doesn’t suffer for it. And I deeply love the Belarusian language, even if I rarely use it in daily life anymore.
I consciously chose not to include the Russian lyrics because the Russian version performed by “Pesnyary” was an entirely different song. The text wasn’t a translation of the version presented below—it was a separate piece altogether. And I prefer this one.
Farewell to the Homeland
The sun’s ray, a narrow ribbon,
Has woven through this memorable evening.
Land of my fathers, my Belarusian land,
I bid you farewell with these words:
“Till we meet again, till we reunite.”
I bid you farewell with these words:
“Till we meet again, till we reunite.”
The scent of an abandoned garden,
In the sky, the star Milavitsa,
The mysteries of park alleys—
Surely, more than once in foreign lands,
They will dream and appear in visions.
Chorus:
Once again, our banner will wave,
A fire will blaze in the night,
And with a marching trumpet,
It will call you and me to a courageous fight.
My Homeland is the one and only.
The path of return from exile
Is a path of struggle.
Farewell at the crossroads of the land,
The chosen path wounds the soul.
The heart longs for native places,
And a single image revives,
Like a troubled wound.
And a single image revives,
Like a troubled wound.
The rooftops of towns, the thatched roofs of villages,
The towers of castles and palaces,
The ringing echoes of slender temples
Call to me,
For it’s impossible to part with this land.
They call to me,
For it’s impossible to part with this land.
Chorus.
Warriors yearn for freedom,
Freedom is light and fate.
The clang of armor and the horses,
The horses—the call of “Pahonia.”
We march out of the swamp of night,
The night—the path foretold.
Chorus.
Dawn, wrapped in mist,
Horizons painted in lilac hues.
And the heavenly organs sound,
And they live in the heart,
And merge in the sounds of the polonaise.
And they live in the heart,
And merge in the sounds of the polonaise.
