Pan Tadeusz Analysis
Pan Tadeusz or The Last Foray in Lithuania
By Adam Mickiewicz
Mickiewicz 's Pan Tadeusz is a Romantic poem with a strong emphasis on the nation. Mickiewicz dedicated his life and creative work to the cause of the liberation of Poland, and this work is a fine example. The plot may have typical elements of a romantic, historical, and descriptive novel, but the treatment transforms it into a national epic. It clearly represents what Mickiewicz saw as the basis of a nation: a unity of people, united by a common language, history and tradition, and in certain cases, a geographical homeland. A new national consciousness is presented as a replacement for older patterns of group identity, as a means for achieving national unity, which for Mickiewicz, was the only way to gain independence and freedom.
For Mickiewicz, an essential element constituting the nation is a common history. In as much as this common history serves the purpose of unifying the people within the nation, its accuracy is irrelevant. Pan Tadeusz represents a myth of the past, "the land of dreams and memory the only country left to the Pole."
There is but one place in this planet whole
Where happiness may be for every Pole
The land of childhood! That shall aye endure
As holy as a first love and as pure,
Unshattered by the memory of mistake,
That no deceitful hopes can ever shake,
And that the changing tide of life cannot unmake.
The entire poem is written in this golden glow of memory, showing an idyllic, peaceful and harmonious setting. With the exception of the few cantos describing the foray, there is very little storm or tragedy within the poem. Everything is peaceful. Pan Tadeusz demonstrates how the myth of a golden, happy age can constitute the nation by uniting its peoples. Nevertheless, Mickiewicz makes it clear to his readers that this idyllic state of being has now past. The recurring of the word last ' Last Foray in Lithuania, last wony (Court Apparitor), last
By Adam Mickiewicz
Mickiewicz 's Pan Tadeusz is a Romantic poem with a strong emphasis on the nation. Mickiewicz dedicated his life and creative work to the cause of the liberation of Poland, and this work is a fine example. The plot may have typical elements of a romantic, historical, and descriptive novel, but the treatment transforms it into a national epic. It clearly represents what Mickiewicz saw as the basis of a nation: a unity of people, united by a common language, history and tradition, and in certain cases, a geographical homeland. A new national consciousness is presented as a replacement for older patterns of group identity, as a means for achieving national unity, which for Mickiewicz, was the only way to gain independence and freedom.
For Mickiewicz, an essential element constituting the nation is a common history. In as much as this common history serves the purpose of unifying the people within the nation, its accuracy is irrelevant. Pan Tadeusz represents a myth of the past, "the land of dreams and memory the only country left to the Pole."
There is but one place in this planet whole
Where happiness may be for every Pole
The land of childhood! That shall aye endure
As holy as a first love and as pure,
Unshattered by the memory of mistake,
That no deceitful hopes can ever shake,
And that the changing tide of life cannot unmake.
The entire poem is written in this golden glow of memory, showing an idyllic, peaceful and harmonious setting. With the exception of the few cantos describing the foray, there is very little storm or tragedy within the poem. Everything is peaceful. Pan Tadeusz demonstrates how the myth of a golden, happy age can constitute the nation by uniting its peoples. Nevertheless, Mickiewicz makes it clear to his readers that this idyllic state of being has now past. The recurring of the word last ' Last Foray in Lithuania, last wony (Court Apparitor), last
Bibliography: Gardner, M., Adam Mickiewicz: The National Poet of Poland, London: J.M.Dent & Sons 1971 Mackenzie, K., Pan Tadeusz, London: The Polish Cultural Foundation 1964 Welsh, D., Adam Mickiewicz, New York: Twayne 1996 Helsztynski, S., (ed.) Adam Mickiewicz: Selected Poetry and Prose, Warsaw: Polonia 1955 Davies, N., Heart of Europe; A Short History of Poland, Oxford: Clarendon 1984