In 1824, after having been briefly imprisoned for pro-Polish independence activities, Mickiewicz was banished to Russia. He quickly became popular in the literary society of Saint Petersburg and Moscow, and befriended Alexander Pushkin. After five years of exile he was given permission to travel to Europe; he settled in Rome, and later in Paris.
In the Preface to the book Metaphysical Poems (2023, Brill) — which includes essays about Mickiewicz and a large selection of his poems (both in the original Polish and in English translation) — the selection of poems are said to show Mickiewicz to be,
----“…part of the diverse culture of European Romanticism, as well
----as the great metaphysical and mystical tradition extending from
----the classical culture of Greece and Rome, through mediaeval
----Christendom, to the early-modern Reformation and Enlightenment.
----In these poems Mickiewicz testifies to a spiritual longing for God
----and the meaning of human existence, a longing which transcends not
----only national, ethnic and linguistic boundaries, but also
----religious denominations.”
The following poem was translated by Mateusz Stróżyński and Jaspreet Singh Boparai and appears in Metaphysical Poems (2023 Brill).
Reason and Faith
When I have bowed proud reason and my head
Before the Lord like clouds before the sun:
The Lord raised them up like a rainbow bright
And painted them with myriad dazzling rays.
And it will shine, a witness to our faith,
When from the heavenly dome disaster flows;
And when we fear the flood, the rainbow will
Remind us of the covenant once more.
Oh, Lord! Humility has made me proud,
For even though I shine in heavenly realm —
My Lord! — the shine’s not mine! It’s but a weak
Reflection of your glorious, dazzling fires!
I looked upon the lowly realms of Man,
On his opinions’ varying tones and hues:
To reason they appeared large and confused,
But to the eyes of faith they’re small, and clear
All the proud scholars! Also you I see!
The storm is throwing you around like trash.
You are enclosed like snails in little shells,
While you desire to comprehend the globe.
They claim: “Necessity! It blindly rules
The world like the moon which governs the waves.”
While others say: “It’s Accident which plays
In Man like winds that frolic in the sky.”
There is a Lord who has embraced the sea
And made it trouble Earth eternally;
But carved for it the boundary in rock,
Designed to act as an eternal check.
*This is the second Kingdom Poets post about Adam Mickiewicz: first post.
Entry written by D.S. Martin. He is the author of five poetry collections including Angelicus (2021, Cascade) ― a book of poems written from the point-of-view of angels. His books are available through Wipf & Stock.