''Anhelli'' is a

prose poem Prose poetry is poetry written in prose form instead of verse form while otherwise deferring to poetic devices to make meaning. Characteristics Prose poetry is written as prose, without the line breaks associated with poetry. However, it make ...

written by Polish

Romantic-era Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

poet and dramatist

Juliusz Słowacki Juliusz Słowacki (; ; ; 4 September 1809 – 3 April 1849) was a Polish Romantic poet. He is considered one of the " Three Bards" of Polish literature — a major figure in the Polish Romantic period, and the father of modern Polish drama. Hi ...

in 1837 and published the following year in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

History

The poem was written in the spring of 1837 in an Armenian monastery known as Betcheszban (Resting Place of the Dead) in

Ghazir Ghazir () is a town and municipality in the Keserwan District of the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is located north of Beirut. It has an average elevation of 380 meters above sea level and a total land area of . Ghazir is divided ...

, a town in the mountains of

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. Słowacki wrote that he created the poem "full of those feelings and thoughts, which were freshly inspired in me by the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

and a night spent by the

tomb of Jesus According to the gospel accounts, Jesus was buried in a tomb which originally belonged to Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy man who, believing Jesus was the Messiah, offered his own sepulcher for the burial of Jesus. According to Christian tradition ...

". The poem was edited in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

and published in

in 1838 in the Polish Library and Printing Press located at Marais Saint-Germain No 17. The print on the 108 pages of the poem was produced by Bourgogne et Martinet printing house. Słowacki dedicated his work to Stefan Hołyński. The poem conveys a

pessimistic Pessimism is a mental attitude in which an undesirable outcome is anticipated from a given situation. Pessimists tend to focus on the negatives of life in general. A common question asked to test for pessimism is "Is the glass half empty or half ...

vision of the future of Polish emigration and the fight for the country's independence. It directly alludes to

Adam Mickiewicz Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. He also largely influenced Ukra ...

's ''Books of the Polish Nation and Polish Pilgrimage'' by employing stylized

biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

prose. It portrays antagonized Polish exiles who are destined for destruction in the realities of

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

, a place strongly associated with the

martyrology A martyrology is a catalogue or list of martyrs and other saints and beati arranged in the calendar order of their anniversaries or feasts. Local martyrologies record exclusively the custom of a particular Church. Local lists were enriched by na ...

of the Polish nation. It sends a messianistic message and poses the question whether the whole nation can ever be saved by an individual or an entire generation of emigrants. ''Anhelli'' served as inspiration for the

symphonic poem A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. The German term ( ...

of the same name by

Ludomir Różycki Ludomir Różycki (; 18 September 1883 Warsaw – 1 January 1953 Katowice) was a Polish composer, conductor and pedagogue. He was, with Mieczysław Karłowicz, Karol Szymanowski and Grzegorz Fitelberg, a member of the group of composers know ...

composed in 1909. The poem is also the basis of ''Anhelli. The Calling'', the last part of a theatrical triptych ''Gospels of Childhood'' produced by

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

-based ZAR Theatre.

Plot

The main plot of the work revolves around the journey through Siberia undertaken by the titular character, a youth named Anhelli, and his guide Shaman, leader of a Siberian tribe. Anhelli was chosen by Shaman from Polish exiles as the redeemer because of his "purity and sinlessness" and he was to be subjected to an initiation by taking part in a journey to see the suffering of the nation. Siberia is portrayed in Słowacki's poem as "white hell" for Polish exiles, a place of execution and spiritual downfall. The main characters wander through various places from deserts and abandoned graveyards through forests to the dark mines of Siberia. Their journey is reminiscent of Dante's journey through hell where the main protagonist, accompanied by

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

, crosses the circles of hell meeting the damned along the way. Polish exiles are depicted as travelling across a deserted, hostile and hellish country, working hard in mines, suffering in cold dungeons with shackles on their legs and enduring beatings and humiliation. Their children are starving and are subjected to forced

Russification Russification (), Russianisation or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians adopt Russian culture and Russian language either voluntarily or as a result of a deliberate state policy. Russification was at times ...

. Anhelli and Shaman's journey starts from the House of Exiles and was supposed to end there as well. However, Shaman's death resulting from a fight among the exiles forces Anhelli to embark on another journey to a faraway desert in the north where he dwells in a hut carved out from ice. Upon the death of Ellenai, a

penitent Penance is any act or a set of actions done out of contrition for sins committed, as well as an alternative name for the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession. The word ''penance'' derives ...

and Anhelli's exiled companion, he is visited by two angels heralding the end of the world as well as his own death. Soon after, he also passes away and is not awakened by the call of the armoured Knight to resurrect and take revenge on the oppressors.

Gallery

File:Witold Pruszkowski - Anhelli (przed śmiercią).jpg, ''Anhelli (Before His Death)'' by

Witold Pruszkowski Witold Pruszkowski (14 January 1846, Bershad - 10 October 1896, Budapest) was a Polish painter and graphic artist in the Symbolism (movement), Symbolist style. Biography He spent his childhood in Odessa and Kiev. The family emigrated to Dieppe ...

, 1889 File:Jacek Malczewski - Ellenai.jpg, ''Ellenai'' by

Jacek Malczewski Jacek Malczewski (; 15 July 1854 – 8 October 1929) was a Polish symbolist painter who was one of the central figures of the patriotic Young Poland movement. His works combined the predominant style of his time with historical motifs of Pol ...

, 1908 File:Farewell Europe!.jpg, ''Farewell to Europe'', by Aleksander Sochaczewski depicting

Sybirak A sybirak (, plural: ''sybiracy'') is a person resettled to Siberia. Like its Russian counterpart '' sibiryák'', the word can refer to any dweller of Siberia, but it more specifically refers to Poles imprisoned or exiled to Siberia or even to th ...

s, 1894 File:Malczewski Prisoners.jpg, ''

The Prisoners A prisoner is someone incarcerated in a prison, jail or similar facility. Prisoner(s) or The Prisoner(s) may also refer to: Literature * ''The Prisoner'' (), the fifth volume of ''In Search of Lost Time'', a 1913–27 novel by Marcel Proust * ' ...

'', Jacek Malczewski, 1883

References

{{Reflist 1837 poems Polish poems Works by Juliusz Słowacki Works set in Siberia Epic poems in Polish

History

Plot

Gallery

See also

References