Pan Tadeusz

Lithuania! My homeland! You are health alone.
Your worth can only ever be known by one
Who’s lost you. Today I see and tell anew
Your lovely beauty, as I long for you.

Pan Tadeusz: The Last Forray Into Lithuania by Adam Mickiewicz and the new translation by Bill Johnston is an epic poem about the divided Poland and Lithuania. Mickiewicz was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator, professor of Slavic literature, and political activist. He is regarded as the national poet in Poland, Lithuania, and Belarus. Johnston is a prolific Polish language literary translator and Professor of comparative literature at Indiana University. His work has helped to expose English-speaking readers to classic and contemporary Polish poetry and fiction.

Pan Tadeusz is a poem for those interested in Polish/Lithuanian history or heritage. Most Americans would know little of Polish history except for the opening of World War II. Those who remember the Cold War will recall, despite Gerald Ford's assertion, that Poland was under Communist control and the US does not recognize the incorporation of Lithuania into the USSR. Poland has lived a rather quiet history as a nation for those living today. Poland was a historically a cultural and military territory. Part of the problem also comes with what is Poland. Its size has varied, and it ceased to exist as a nation more than once. My great grandmother's immigration papers said she was born in Russian occupied Poland claiming Polish as her nationality. With borders that changed so often, it is not hard to imagine how one person could be the national poet of three different countries.

Pan Tadeusz is a rather long poem covering five days in 1811 and two days in 1812. It contains a bit of a Shakespeare theme (Romeo and Juliet) and a bit of Les Miserables' to the barricades. Johnston provides a detailed introduction which helps clarify regional realities of the time and a translation that remains true to the original intent including the humor. The verse flows well, and much of the rhyme remains in place, not every line rhymes, but there is enough to keep the read locked into the rhythm of the poetry. There does not seem to be any forced wording in the translation; it is easily readable.

Johnston's translation of Pan Tadeusz brings the Polish classic in an enjoyable form to the English language readers without losing the original intention and form. Both the author and translator include notes characters, locations, as well as translations where words don't seem to have a word for word replacement. An exceptionally well done original work and rendering.

My World Literature students generally have little to no previous exposure to Polish/Lithuanian authors and texts. I’m always glad to see a new translation that is easily usable for classroom assignments and discussion.

First published in Paris in 1834, Pan Tadeusz, a long narrative poem, is regarded as the national epic of Poland, But it is not an epic on a grand scale, with brave heroes and valiant exploits, but a quieter tale, which concentrates on the everyday, the mundane, the down-to-earth. It’s the story of two feuding families and the romance between the eponymous Tadeusz Soplica and Zosia, the daughter of the opposing family. Life was beginning to change in Poland in the early 19th century and Mickiewicz aimed to record this life before it disappeared for ever. So we get a portrait of the Polish gentry and day-to-day life on their estates in 1811/12. It’s certainly more of a soap opera than a great tragedy, with warring families, plots and subplots, intrigues and conspiracies, romance and rivalry, and peopled by often eccentric characters. The translation seems excellent to me, very naturalistic, yet still lyrical, and it flows effortlessly. I found it an enjoyable read although I relied heavily on the excellent introduction, and I found the notes explaining historical and cultural references essential. A bit of background reading certainly enhanced my reading pleasure, and I’m not sure if it would stand up to being read “cold” by anyone without some understanding of the historical background. All credit to Archipelago for producing this wonderful edition and bringing this Polish classic to a wider readership.

Before I began reading this book I told my friend from Poland I was going to read it. He told me two things about it: 1. it's a poem, and 2. every Polish schoolchild reads it and memorizes the beginning stanza.

If that's not a national epic, I don't know what is.

We usually think of epics as covering periods long ago or legendary. But what Mickiewicz did was something unique -- he brought the epic to modern times, setting the book in the Napoleonic period. This was a period of change in the way of life in Poland and the author does a wonderful job of portraying the customs of the time.

The poetry is extremely easy to read, even if you avoid it. The translator put it into iambic pentameter blank (non-rhyming) verse, a meter that is very natural for English. He chose this, instead of the meter in the original Polish precisely because it would retain its natural feel.

There are rhymed couplets only where Mickiewicz used them. While they give these passages a different feel, they are not off-putting. In fact I found this the easiest poetry to read ever.

The plot revolves around the title character, a young man, just returned his uncle's house after his education. It celebrates country life and the finding of new love in the first half of the book. The middle of the book revolves around the greater question of arguments and the larger war around them.

Thee book ends with lovers reunited, marriages, and a great feast. As my husband once said of the characters in a Polish novel "all the men are brave and all the girls beautiful."

Much as I loved the story what I liked best was Mickiewicz' beautiful, lyrical, and moving passages about the countryside, both land and animals, and Poland. Written while he was in exile in France, it's a moving testament to his homeland and a very fitting epic.