Mothers


Henryk Gorecki

First Movement:
My son, my chosen and beloved
Share your wounds with your mother
And because, dear son, I have always carried you in my heart,
And always served you faithfully
Speak to your mother, to make her happy,
Although you are already leaving me, my cherished hope.
Lamentation of the Holy Cross Monastery.

Second Movement:
No, Mother, do not weep.
Most chaste Queen of Heaven,
Support me always.
Ave Maria.

Inscribed on wall of cell no. 3 in the basement of the Gestapo’s headquarters in Zadopane, Poland; beneath is the signature of Helena Wanda Blazusiakówna, and the words “18 years old, imprisoned since 26 September 1944.”

Third Movement:
Where has he gone
My dearest son?
Perhaps during the uprising
The cruel enemy killed him
Ah, you bad people
In the name of God, the most Holy,
Tell me, why did you kill
My son?
Never again
Will I have his support
Even if I cry
My old eyes out
Were my bitter tears
to create another River Oder
They would not restore to life
My son
He lies in his grave
and I know not where
Though I keep asking people
Everywhere
Perhaps the poor child
Lies in a rough ditch
and instead he could have been
lying in his warm bed
Oh, sing for him
God’s little song-birds
Since his mother
Cannot find him
And you, God’s little flowers
May you blossom all around
So that my son
May sleep happily
-Polish folk song-