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Ignacy Krasicki's Hymn do miłości Ojczyzny (Hymn to the Love of His Native Land) holds an extraordinary position in the history of Polish literature. When it was first published as an independent work, in the autumn of 1774 in Part 2 of Volume 10 of Zabawy Przyjemne i Pożyteczne, it made an exceptional career as a composition which addressed the most sensitive patriotic feelings of Polish readers then facing the prospect of the impending annihilation of their country in outcome of the policies pursued by the neighbouring powers following the First Partition of Poland (1772). It enjoyed a lasting popularity later, in the last quarter of the 18th, and in the first half of the 19th century, after Poland's complete dismemberment, it still continued to be reprinted many times. The lofty patriotic spirit of this poem's reception endured for decades, well-nigh into our own times, understandably in view of the Polish raison d'état. The poem's literary form, its exquisite structure and forcefulness of expression rank it among the finest patriotic verse the reign of Stanisław August Poniatowski, and indeed at any time in Polish poetry.
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