76. Michał Zabłocki (lyrics), Grzegorz Turnau (vocals) – Cichosza (Shush-quiet)

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Cichosza is one of the most popular songs by Grzegorz Turnau. It is housed in the Turnau’s second album called Pod światło (‘Against the light’).

In the poem, we can find some play on words, e.g. in the title itself which is actually a neologism derived from the adverb “cicho” (‘quietly’) and the interjection “sza” (‘(s)hush’). Both of them may be used together as when ordering someone to be quiet: “cisho, sza!” (‘quiet!’ or ‘silence! (s)hush!’), but even then they are written separately, as two words, not one. In the below translation, this coinage was rendered retaining the original location of the stress, i.e. on the penultimate syllable which points out, at least in the Polish version, the joining between the roots. “Shush-quiet” /ʃʌʃˈkwaɪət/ is probably (hopefully) as extraordinary and surprising in English as “cichosza” in Polish.

The above-mentioned play on words is not limited to the title. Zabłocki, the author of the poem, have modified some words, namely “zwiadu, idu, patrzu, widzu”. The correct forms of the words are: “zwiad, idę, patrzę, widzę” /zvjat, ide, patʃe, vid͡ze/. The changed endings make the words similar to Russian language or to a rural dialect (though there is no Polish dialect with such endings, at least in such a context, namely the first person singular of the verbs). Also, the words resemble the Polish idiom “ani widu, ani słychu” /aɲi vidu, aɲi swɨxu/ (‘there is no trace of somebody or something’). This connection is probably the most appropriate since the poem refers clearly to the lack of loftiness in our lives. Loftiness of different kind. It may be as well high culture or extraordinary feats of technology.

Real dialect feature appears in the end of the poem, in the verse “I w ogóle nic ni ma” /i v ɔgulɛ ɲit͡s ɲi ma/. In the common variant of the Polish language, it should be: “I w ogóle nic nie ma”. Here we have the narrowing of the /ɛ/ vowel preceding and following nasal consonants (the latter being the palatal consonant what additionally facilitates the narrowing). This dialect form makes the whole sentence seem more colloquial and plain, as well as it enables to relate the expression “ni ma” to “zima” in the next verse by means of a rhyme: /ɲi ma, ʑima/.

Note: in the below translation, the second column provides rather literal translation while the last one houses a more poetic rendering.

Cichosza	Quiet-hush	Shush-quiet
Po cichu po wielkiemu cichu	Quietly, very quietly	Quietly, veryly quietly
Idę sobie ku miastu na zwiadu	I’m going calmly to town to scout	Goin’ calmly to town to scout around
I idu i patrzu	And going and looking	And go ‘round, and look ‘round
Na ulicach cichosza na chodnikach cichosza	In the streets, there’s quiet-hush, in the pavements there’s quiet-hush	In the streets, there’s shush-quiet, in pavements, there’s shush-quiet
Nie ma Mickiewicza i nie ma Miłosza	There is no Mickiewicz and there is no Miłosz	There is no Mickiewicz and there is no Miłosz
Tu cichosza tam cicho, szaro, brudno i zima	Here and there is quiet-hush, dully, dirty and winter	Here’s shush-quiet, there is hush, dully, dirty and so dim
Nie ma Słowackiego i nie ma Tuwima	There is no Słowacki and there is no Tuwim	There is no Słowacki and there is no Tuwim
Na ulicach cichosza…
Po cichu po wielkiemu cichu	Quietly, very quietly	Quietly, veryly quietly
Idu sobie i idu i idu	I’m going calmly, and going, and going	Goin’ calmly and goin’, and goin’
I patrzu i widzu	And looking and seeing	And lookin’and seein’
W rękach głowach cichosza, w ustach, oczach cichosza	In hands, in head there’s quiet-hush, in mouths, in eyes there’s quiet-hush	Hands bear, heads bear shush-quiet, mouths bear, eyes bear shush-quiet
Nie ma samozwańców i nie ma rokoszan	There are no pretenders and there are no rebels	There are no pretenders and there’re no insurgents
Tu cichosza tam cicho szaro buro i śnieży	Here and there is quiet-hush, dirty, dim and snowy	Here’s shush-quiet, there is hush, dully, dirty and snowy
Nie ma kosmonautów i nie ma papieży	There are no cosmonauts and there are no popes	There are no inventors and there is no clergy
Na ulicach cichosza na chodnikach cichosza…
Tu cichosza tam cicho i w ogóle nic ni ma	Here’s quiet-hush, there is quiet, and generally there’s nothing	Here’s shush-quiet, there is hush, altogether there’s no thing
Wiosna to czy lato jesień albo zima	Whether it’s spring, summer, autumn or winter	In winter, in summer, in autumn or in spring
Po cichu po wielkiemu cichu