Jacek Kowalski - Szarża i sen husarski

We stood in a vast field,
Shapely, bright like a table,
Sky-high, beyond reach, breathless.
We looked around:
Riga from above, Vienna from below, and Moscow just a stone's throw away, or half.

Oh, how great a fate was woven for us,
The unparalleled Commonwealth.

And then the Lord Hetman says to us,
Hey, gentlemen, woe, woe!
Look, from Moscow through Riga, Pcim and Crimea,
The rabble is charging by the thousands, so onwards, onwards, onwards!
Weapons in hand, horses in gallop, and in them like smoke!

Let them see us, let them count us,
The winged-horse Commonwealth.

We started at a walk,
Trot, canter, then passed into a gallop, into a permanent charge.
So wings grow on us like birds, and to the scoundrels-rascals,
Their guts are torn, and madness shines from their eyes!

Let them see us, let them count us,
The winged-horse Commonwealth.

London, Paris, and the Muezzin and Mandarin gaze in astonishment,
The Kremlin smoldering, the tsar has become a lobster! [1]
And we, Russians, Turks, Germans, madcaps, and strangers,
Perforate and prepare them for feldgrau.

For there will be a colander, also known as a sieve,
For those who wish to strike the Commonwealth.

Before the hetman realized, we continued
Sideways, sideways beyond the Urals
From the Danube to Dubai to Phnom Penh
And in Kamchatka, over tea,
The division of Asia near the Maldives
We're dealing with the Japanese, CNN is buzzing.

Let them see us, let them count us,
The winged-horse Commonwealth.

Suddenly, the pale hetman caught up with us,
Shouting, "Elders, enough is enough!
What a disgrace, I don't want to know you!
Fold your wings and banners,
Hide your candles under the bushel,
Shut your mouths! And sleep under Giewont, sleep, sleep, sleep!" [2]

For the whole Earth is displeased,
That a Pole dared to slightly scorch the Kremlin.

So, bowing heavily in shame,
And laying our ears upon ourselves,
Whispering "goodbye" to our wings,
We laid ourselves in a dark corner,
In a cramped cave under Giewont,
But about this, please, very quietly.

Let the extraordinary Commonwealth,
Shrouded in sleep, not know about this.

1 - "Pinczerek" is a Polish word that refers to small crustaceans like crabs or lobsters. In the context of the lyrics, it symbolically suggests the degradation or weakening of the Russian tsar, likening him to a vulnerable or defenseless creature.

2 - Giewont lies in the area of the Polish Tatra National. Park (Tatrzański Park Narodowy). In Polish folklore it is, associated with a legend about oversleeping knights, who will awake when Poland is in danger