2009 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Juliusz Słowacki and the 160th anniversary of his death.

Tadeusz Łomnicki, the end of Kordian’s monologue from Act II, in a 1956 production of Kordian.

Spojrzałem ze skały szczytu,
Duch rycerza powstał z lodów…
Winkelried dzidy wrogów zebrał i w pierś włożył,
Ludy! Winkelried ożył!
Polska Winkelriedem narodów!
Poświęci się, choć padnie jak dawniéj! jak nieraz!
Nieście mię, chmury! nieście, wiatry! nieście, ptacy!

I looked up from the summit,
The spirit of the knight was locked in ice…
Winkelried gathered enemy spears and put them to his breast,
People! Winkelried has risen!
Poland, the Winkelried of nations!
Sacrifice yourself, come fall as before! as often!
Bear me, cloud! wind! bird!

Translation by Dcn. Jim

KORDIAN, written after the failed Polish uprising of 1830-31, and published in 1833, is a metaphysical and political myth-drama. The play unfolds in this world and beyond, real protagonists appearing side by side with symbolic ones. The central theme is the failure of the November Uprising. Słowacki succeeded by creating Kordian, the story’s protagonist, as an interesting Romantic hero — an individualist disappointed with the world, a revolutionary implicated in a tragic conflict of values.

In “Preparation” forces from hell create and send the leaders of the uprising to Poland. In Act I Kordian experiences an unhappy love affair. In Act II his travels leave him disappointed with contemporary Europe. In the monologue which culminates the act he transforms into a political activist, fighter for the national cause. Act III, set on the eve of the uprising, presents Kordian’s conflict and ethical dilemma as to ‘crime for a cause’ and the morality of bloodshed. Abandoned by other conspirators, Kordian intends to assassinate tsar Nicholas, just crowned the king of Poland. However, he is overcome by the sprits Fear and Imagination, and proves unable to commit the bloody act. Sentenced to death for an attempted coup, he is later saved.