Adam Mickiewicz, Dziady

Walenty Wankowicz, Mickiewich na Judahu skale, 1827-1828
(Mickiewicz on the cliff of Judah)
oil on canvas, Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie
(http://neveryetmelted.com/2010/05/26/pan-tadeusz/)

Only a few words here about Dziady (Forefathers' Eve), the Opus Magnum of Adam Mickiewicz. It would deserve much more than just a few words, as it played an important role in keeping the Polish national conscience: in the 19th century, when part of the country was occupied by Czarist Russia (while the rest was under Austrian and Prussian occupation), and then after WWII, when Soviet Russia imposed in Poland the Communist regime. It is not only a masterpiece of Romanticism, it is a monument of Polish history.

The title of this poetic drama comes from a ancient Slavic feast celebrated for the souls of the dead: for the Forefathers. It has pre-Christian origins and it was included by the Church in its ritual, like so many pagan traditions that proved too strong to get rid of. The ancient name of the feast is Dziady, and it is still named so in Belarus: they hold it several times along the year. One of the dates is on the last Saturday before St. Dmitry's day, the Dźmitreuskija dziady. In Poland Dziady became Zaduszki: on All Souls' Day people go to the cemeteries and light candles at the graves. The celebration is observed also in Lithuania, where the name is Vėlinės. And actually this kind of remembrance of the dead is observed in a similar way in all Eastern Europe. I know it well as it is part of Romanian traditions: Mosii (literally The Old Ones), hold several times along the year (Mosii de Iarna, Mosii de Vara, Mosii de Toamna).

I looked for the meaning of word dziady in contemporary Polish. It has slightly shifted. If you go to a Polish-English dictionary you can get beggars as translation. It looked weird for me at the beginning, then I realized: the feast of Dziady was celebrated by gathering poor people around a table full of dishes and drinks, and invoking the spirits of the forefathers to come and join the table.

The title of the drama was rendered in English as Forefathers' Eve, which is a perfect rendering, I think, as it encompasses the full meaning of the feast. In Romanian the title was rendered as Strabunii (The Forefathers), which I think is incomplete. Maybe a better Romanian rendering would have been Priveghi pentru Strabuni (Forefathers' Eve), or Pomenirea Strabunilor (Forefathers' Remembrance). Well, it's just for the sake of discussion, it doesn't matter. It was rendered as Strabunii and so it'll remain.

A note here also about the German rendering of Dziady: it's Totenfeier (Funeral Rites) - the title seems a bit too Romantic for my modern sensibility, to be honest - what I would like to say is that the poem inspired Gustav Mahler who composed a symphonic poem, that later would become the first movement of his Second Symphony. Here is a fragment:

Totenfeier at Kinhaven 08
(video by lusoformosa)

Now let's talk a little about Dziady, the poem. It has four parts, very loosely related, each one created by Mickiewics in a different period of life. I will mention each part very briefly and dryly, as I think one needs to read them to be rewarded with their beauty.

The first part, written seemingly in 1821 and left unfinished (it would be published much later), depicts a young couple confusedly boggling between contradictory paths: idealistic love, pursuit of society's ways, simple response to what nature teaches. Mickiewicz will come also in the other parts to this: recognition of love, response to love, are conditions in the act of redemption: redemption of the individual, and built on it, redemption of the nation.

The second part, written in 1821-1822 is the one that gives the title of the whole poem. It depicts a Forefathers' Eve, where the spirits of the dead are summoned to come. They are ghosts who haven't been allowed to heaven and are damned to eternal wandering. It is actually a symbolic way to meditate at what is needed in the act of redemption: individual and national redemption. It's love and suffering. Among the ghosts, two kids who had died before encountering the cruelty of life: suffering, viewed by Mickiewicz as necessary in the act of redemption, martyrdom viewed as a necessary path in Polish destiny. The ghost of a young shepherdess, also not allowed to heaven: while on earth, she had failed to respond to her duty to love, to see the love of the other and to respond to it; the Romantic vision of earthly love as image of the sacred (and not only Romantic, of course).

The third part was written in 1832, after Czarist Russia crushed the Polish patriots who had rebelled against their occupier and had fought for the independence of their country. For Mickiewics, Poland was the Christ of Europe: through their suffering and sacrifice they were to release all persecuted nationalities, as Christ brought salvation for the whole mankind.

The fourth part was written in 1821-1822. It is a love poem, and it is believed to parallel the story of the great love in the life of Mickiewicz. His Beatrice was Maryla Wereszczakówna, and their love was unhappy. The poet converted his despair into this fourth part of Dziady: a superb manifesto of love.

Though the four parts are very different in thematic, there is a subtle unity. For Mickiewics, all that happened in the history of Poland has a sense, a purpose, it is inscribed in a divine plan. He looks in the individual souls, to understand the soul of the nation. He looks in the mythology of the Slavic universe, to find the same lessons that he finds in history. He speaks about love and about suffering, as he tries to understand their place in Polish redemption. Dziady is a poem about the Polish ethos, to build on it a vision for the Polish destiny: the mission God has for Poland. That is how Mickiewicz understands the meaning of Forefathers' Remembrance, communion between now and then, between us and them, between here and beyond, and ultimately as moment in eternal life (and here a splendid liturgical treaty authored by Father Alexander Schmemann comes to my mind: The Eucharist - Sacrament of the Kingdom; in one of the chapters you will find a profound explanation for the liturgical sense of remembrance).

And Dziady brought its share in the most difficult moments of Polish history. It was banned by Czarist Russia, and possessing the book could lead to deportation in Siberia. And then, during the Communist regime there were periods when Dziady was censored and allowed only in a politically correct frame, and there were other periods when it was simply banned. The events of 1968 started as a response for banning a theatrical representation of Dziady.



(A Life in Books)