A new translation of the classic tale of mystery, war and patriotism
by Adam Mickiewicz
Pan Tadeusz is an epic poem by the Polish poet, writer and philosopher
Adam Mickiewicz. The book was first published in June 1834 in Paris, and
is considered by many to be the last great epic poem in European
literature. It is a tale of mystery, mistaken identity and patriotism
set the days before Napoleon's invasion of Russia.
The story takes place over the course of five days in 1811 and two days
in 1812, at a time in history, when Poland-Lithuania had already been
divided between the armies of Russia, Prussia, and Austria and erased
from the political map of Europe, although in 1807, just before the
story begins, Napoleon had established a satellite Duchy of Warsaw in
the Prussian partition, in existence until the Congress of Vienna held
in the aftermath of Napoleonic defeat.
The place is situated within the Russian partition, in the village of
Soplicowo; the country estate of the Soplica clan. Pan Tadeusz
recounts the story of two feuding noble families, and the love between
Tadeusz Soplica (the title character) of one family, and Zosia of the
other. Another sub-plot involves a spontaneous revolt of the local
inhabitants against the occupying Russian garrison. Since Mickiewicz
published his poem as an exile in Paris, he was free of the Russian
censors to talk openly about the occupation.
