Mickiewicz’s Epic Poem Pan Tadeusz
The Most Famous Work of One of Poland’s great Romanticists
Adam Mickiewicz (1798-1855) was one of 19th century Poland's "Three Bards" who grew up in political turmoil. As a poet he was bound to express the unrest of his time.
Early Years
Adam Mickiewicz was born near Navahrudak (now in Belarus, but then part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). In 1795 it came under the control of Imperial Russia; therefore, by the time of his birth his home was already occupied by a foreign power. His life was an unending struggle for the emancipation of Poland from Russia, and the themes of his poetry demonstrate this.
Educated at the University of Vilnius he became involved with an underground organization known as the Polish-Lithuanian Freedom Group. He was a teacher in a city in Poland when he was arrested in 1823 for his political activities. His punishment was banishment to Russia where he nevertheless became known and welcomed into the best literary circles here his reputation as a poet grew.
Later Years
Mickiewicz vowed never to return to his homeland until it was free from Russian domination. When his banishment was lifted Mickiewicz travelled to Germany and then to Italy, where he settled for a time in Rome. He finally moved to Paris in 1832, suffering poverty, depression and a failed marriage. He eventually secured a post as professor of Slavic languages and literature at the College de France for three years.
He went to Turkey in 1855 during th Crimean War, hoping to help in the organization of a Polish miltary brigade to fight the Russians. He contracted cholera near Constantinople and died the same year.
Pan Tadeusz : The Poem and its Politics
The full title can be translated as "Master Thaddeus, or, The Last Incursion in Lithuania: A History of the Nobility in the Years 1811 and 1812 in Twelve Books of Verse". It was published in Paris in June of 1834. The story takes place over the span of five days in 1811 and one day in 1812 during the Partition of Poland. (At the time Poland had been divided between Prussia, Russia and Austria, and had practically disappeared off the political map of Europe.)
The poem takes place in a Lithuanian village (in the Russian partition) and tells the story of the feud between two noble families and the love story between Tadeusz Soplica of one family and his beloved Zosia of the other. The poem exists on other levels as well: one of the subplots involves the spontaneous uprising of the local populace against the Russian occupying force.
Other great works that came from Mickiewicz's pen are the epic poem Grazyna (1823), the drama Forefather's Eve (also 1823) and Konrad Wallenrod (1828), a patriotic poem that tells the tragic story of a Prussian soldier torn between loyalty to his countrymen and to the Templar Knights of whom he has become Grand Master.
Mickiewicz published Pan Tadeusz as an exile in Paris; therefore he was able to deliver his political message free of the Russian censors. It is the national epic of Poland and is still compulsory reading (as well as memorisation) in Polish schools. There are several English translations available, and it was also the basis of a film made by Andrzej Wajda in 1999. Many judge it to be the last great epic poem in European literature.
Sources
Bram, L; Dickey, N; Phillips, R. "Adam Mickiewicz" in Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, vol 16, p 264.
New York: 1979.
Kress, L, transl. Pan Tadeusz. London: Harrowgate Press, 2006.
Mickiewicz, A. Pan Tadeusz. Warsaw: Arkady Publishers, 1959.
Mickiewicz, A. Pan Tadeusz. Warsaw: Czytelnik: 1963.
