Among the many folk symbols of Poland is the vibrant, triumphant white stag-symbol of life- fleeting yet ongoing and enduring.
In particular, this symbol lives on in the legends from the Swietokrzyskie (Holy Cross) mountain range of southeastern Poland. Here (according to the folk from Lysa Gora) a sacred white stag is said to appear only once every century. On his brow is emblazoned a small cross, which they believed to be fashioned from the wood of the one True Cross.
In the Suwalki region of Lithuanian Poland, the stag is thought of as the Life Force itself. The bounding of the sleek, imaginary creatures through the fields is suggested by the graceful undulation of golden grain stirred by soft winds. They sing of the stag;
Hasten, O Stag, in your fleeing along
On the billowing waves of the barley.
Soon shall the barley be all cut and gone,
Your flight and your revelry done.