The poem is dedicated to Mikołaj "the Red" Radziwiłł (1512–1584) and his major military victories in the Livonian War – capture of the Tarvastu Castle in 1561, Battle of Wenden in 1578, Siege of Polotsk in 1579, Siege of Velikiye Luki in 1580, and his largest victory in the Battle of Ula in 1564. Similarly to the legendary Aeneas, Radziwiłł fulfills his destiny by protecting and defending Lithuania from the Tsardom of Russia and receives a prophetic instruction from Musaeus of Athens. At Ula, Radziwiłł is guided by a vision of Grand Duke Vytautas (ruled 1392–1430) and draws inspiration from his victory in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410. At the same time, the poem vilifies Lithuania's greatest enemy Ivan the Terrible. Radvanas borrowed imagery about Ivan from his biography by . While the goal of the poem was to promote and glorify Radziwiłł and the Grand Duchy, it also provides some valuable historical details. For example, Radziwiłł's year of birth (1512) is known only from the poem.