Polish Christmas Carol

Christmas is a festival celebrated by many Non-Christians all over the world. If you go for a Christmas holiday tour to another country then the biggest advantage is that you get to see the traditions and celebrations of Christmas in that particular country. It is always interesting to know the cultures of another country.

Poland is another country whose traditions are interesting to know about. Not just the traditions but also their Christmas carols are interesting to know about. Polish Christmas carols are popular all over the world and played in every country. To know more about Polish Christmas carols read ahead.

Many of the Polish carols are anonymous that is the poets of these carols are not known. Laymen have mainly composed them. These Christmas carols can be dated back to the sixteenth and seventeenth century while some are as old as the fourteenth century also. The first Polish carol was made in the fourteenth century and is known as W Zlobie Lezy.

As these songs have been written and sung by local people, they have folk characteristics in them. The melodies are happy, tender and humorous. The Polish like songs with typical Polish pleasant music. The songs have music that make your feet tap. The folk music brings before us the picture of infant Jesus who is poor and homeless lying in a manger surrounded by domestic animals. Polish Christmas carols touch the heart of the local people.

Polish Christmas carols are called as koleda. The word has been derived from the Latin word Calendae. The meaning of the word is ‘the first day of the month’. These songs are joyful to hear and announce the coming of Christ on earth.

The three types of Polish Christmas carols are religious, imaginative and legendary. Read ahead to know more about them:

• Religious Polish Christmas Carols: They are the most popular and beautiful carols. When you listen to them, you get a deep feeling of Polish hymns. Priests mainly write these carols.
• Legendary Polish Christmas Carols: They are carols that are based on the books of Apocrypha. The church did not accept such songs to be sung in the church but the local people like listening to them. Legendary carols include many details and legends for which historical truths can neither be changed nor assumed.
• Imaginative Polish Christmas Carols: The local people write these songs. They write them relating it with their native surrounding and speak mostly of the native birth. Thus because of such songs, Bethlehem became a Polish village and as a result it is simultaneously believed that Jesus is born in Poland. They have music that makes you dance and are commonly called as ‘Shepherds Carol’s’.

Some of the popular Polish Christmas carols are

• “To the Town of Bethlehem” (Przybiezeli do Betlejem)
• “Rejoice Bethlehem” (Dzisiaj w Betlejem)
• “Midst Quiet Night” (Wsrod Nocnej Ciszy)
• “Jesus, Heaven's Infant” (Jezus Malusienki)
• “God is Born” (Gdy sie Chrystus rodzi)
• “Let Us All Go” (Pójdzmy Wszyscy)
• “Hush-A-Bye Little Jesus” (Lulajze Jezuniu)

You will find their Polish title in brackets. The songs have been changed to English because all over the world people like them. Polish Christmas carols are popular and are liked all over so they have been sung with joy in many churches during Christmas. Some people sing them with the same words as they are written.