# Poland: A Study of the Land People and Literature

Layout 2
POLAND
By the same Author
MAIN CURRENTS IN
NINETEENTH CENTURY
LITERATURE
By GEORGE BRANDES
| I. | THE EMIGRANT LITERATURE |
| II. | THE ROMANTIC SCHOOL IN GERMANY |
| III. | THE REACTION IN FRANCE |
| IV. | NATURALISM IN ENGLAND |
| V. | THE ROMANTIC SCHOOL IN FRANCE |
| VI. | YOUNG GERMANY |
LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN
21 Bedford Street, W.C.
POLAND
A STUDY OF THE LAND
PEOPLE AND LITERATURE
BY
GEORGE BRANDES
LONDON
WILLIAM HEINEMANN
1903
All rights reserved
CONTENTS
PART I
OBSERVATIONS AND APPRECIATIONS
FIRST IMPRESSION (1885)
| | | page |
| I. | Journey from Vienna to Warsaw—The Frontier—Custom-House Inspection | 3 |
| II. | Warsaw—Physiognomy of the City—Condition of the Language and of the Theatre—Russianisation—Banishments | 11 |
| III. | The Antecedents and Characteristics of the Poles | 22 |
| IV. | The Poles and the French—Instability, Dilettantism—Feverish Character of the Pleasures of Life—Strength and Susceptibility of the National Feeling | 31 |
| V. | Consolidation of Everything Polish—Religious Beliefs and Parties—Poland a Symbol | 41 |
SECOND IMPRESSION (1886)
THE EXPULSION OF THE POLES BY PRUSSIA
| I. | The Polish Women | 53 |
| II. | The Men—Polish Ideals, Virtues, and Vices | 58 ​ |
| III. | Education and Instruction—Democrats, Socialists, Free-Thinkers—Compulsory Choice of the Cultured | 66 |
| IV. | Polish Life and the Russian System—Public Festivities and Masquerades, Social Life in Different Circles—The Same Oppressive Atmosphere Everywhere | 78 |
| V. | The Censorship Difficulties in Obtaining Permission to Deliver Lectures | 85 |
| VI. | How one Writes and Speaks under a Censorship | 93 |
| VII. | Mental Effects of the Situation on the Young | 96 |
| VIII. | Is Poland as an Object worth the Sacrifices made for it? | 103 |
THIRD IMPRESSION (1894)
A POLISH MANOR-HOUSE
| I. | Neighbourhood—Landscape—Increased Severity of Russian Rule | 109 |
| II. | Cholera—Censorship—Arrests | 115 |
| III. | Monotony and Stillness—Summer-night Sentiments—Political Divergence of the Older and Younger Generations | 121 |
| IV. | Poland and France—Poland and Germany | 129 |
| V. | A Church Festival—Popular Beliefs | 136 |
| VI. | The Memorial Procession of 1894—Painters and Writers | 142 |
| VII. | A Common Domestic Occurrence, Significant of the State of the Country | 150 |
| VIII. | National Characteristics and Patriotism—Conclusion | 156 |
FOURTH IMPRESSION (1899)
| I.-VIII. | Lemberg | 165 |
THE ROMANTIC LITERATURE OF POLAND IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY (1886)
POINTS OF CONTACT IN POLISH AND DANISH LITERATURE
| | PAGE |
| I. Tendencies Common to All European Literatures—Peculiar Features—Retrospect—Kochanowski—Skarga—Jesuitism—French Philosophy—Rationalism | 192 |
| II. Polish Romanticism Determined by the Character of the People, by European Romanticism and the Political Situation—Special Points of View for the Antithesis of Classic and Romantic—Worship of Napoleon and Byron—Relation to Shakespeare and Dante—Influence of Emigrant Life on the Sentiment of Writers | 199 |
| III. Brodzinski, the Pioneer of Romanticism—Popular Ballads—The Ukrainian Poets: Malczewski, Zaleski, Goszcynski | 215 |
| IV. Mickiewicz and Goethe—Faris and the Ode to Youth—Youth of Mickiewicz—Mickiewicz and Pushkin | 224 |
| V. The Political Situation Determines the Manner of Treating all Subjects, the Point of View for Love and Hate, Maternal and Filial Emotions, the Relation between the Individual and the People, between Genius and the Surrounding World, between Emotion and Reason, Relation to Religion and Philosophy | 239 ​ |
| VI. The Two Principal Themes of the Leading Poets Mickiewicz, Slowacki, and Krasinski: The First Two the Poets of Vengeance, Krasinski the Poet of Love | 253 |
| VII. The Character of Hamlet in Poland—The Type of Hamlet Conceived on Radical Lines by Slowacki, and on Conservative Lines by Krasinski | 269 |
| VIII. "Pan Tadeusz," the only Epopee of the Century—Mickiewicz and Rzewuski—Importance of Mickiewicz | 282 |
| IX. Division Among the Poets—Disorganisation of Romanticism—Polish Literature of To-Day—Critical Summary | 295 |
| X. Conclusion | 308 |