Poland underwent a dismemberment by the Russian, German and Austrian empires at the end of the eighteenth century, and after a brief rebirth, a fourth bloody partition between Nazi Germany and Stalin’s Russia. It was a long, hard and painful period for a proud nation to endure.
No surprise then that in reaction it produced some great writing and that its finest writers used considerable spleen, anguish and yes, fury, directed at their targets: Adam Mickiewicz at the Tsar and his hired henchmen, Juliusz Slowacki at a pope who turned a blind eye to the suffering of his most loyal people (and against God himself ), and hundred years later by Julian Tuwim aimed at the leaders of Europe pushing it into the bloodiest conflict ever. The poets’ weapons were satire — and, of course, fury. But the reader should just enjoy the art in their masterly verse.
