Zygmunt Krasiński

“ Will spring the germ of life for other men!
Those hopes the world deems folly, idle dreams,
Incorporate in actuality,
In faith, in justice, something palpable.
Which, like a probe, shall sink in all men's hearts,
And dwell forever there, although it touch
Them lightly in a breath, a quivering sigh! . . . ”

“ He renounced all fame while living, ever publishing anonymously, and the manifold experiences of his internal life, with his numerous historical and political letters, must slumber in the shroud of silence, until Polish patriotism is no longer crime, and confiscation and exile cease to be the doom of all connected with those daring enough to defend their native land. ”

“ In the vast world of thought and the wide regions of poetry there were no limits for Krasinski, and he reveled in that mystic freedom of art which was alike denied to himself and country in the sphere of politics. ”

“ Angelic Inspiration be for men;
The Nourishment that nourishes the heart!
A Sister's Tear be for the suffering;
A Manly Voice, when long-tried courage reels!
For wandering exiles be their Home of Birth ”

“ A volume of extracts from his letters has also been published in Paris, under the supervision of one of his dearest friends, Constantine Gaszynski, under whose name Krasinski published "The Dawn."
Poland venerates in him the distinguished author, the inspired poet, the sublime spirit, the brave man who knew how to sustain hope in adversity, and to quicken with new powers the sinking soul. The effort of his life was to attain moral perfection in his own being. ”

“ The close of the year 1830 found him in Italy, where he received the distressing intelligence of the disastrous events occurring in Warsaw. They made a profound impression on the enthusiastic and patriotic young Pole, but he was thoroughly unable to follow the dictates of his heart. His moral strength would have been sufficient to have supported him through the conflict then so wildly raging in his breast, but he was forced to succumb to physical weakness: the consequent struggle brought upon him an illness which chained him to his bed during a whole year. ”

“ Petersburg, it became evident that there were societies existing in Poland whose principal object was the restoration of that country to independence. Uminski, Jablonowski, Soltyk, Kryzanowski, Lukasinski, and others, members of one of these societies, were indicted for high treason. The trial fell under the jurisdiction of the ancient kingdom of Poland, whose capital was the city of Warsaw.
The reduced Poland of the Congress of Vienna enjoyed a nominal constitution, and the Polish Senate was convoked to preserve, ostensibly at least, a legal form. ”

“ On quitting the university, he went first to Geneva, where he wrote for the journals; among such articles, were some written in French for the "Revue Encyclopédique." Falling ill, his physician advised him to seek a milder climate, and he spent the winter in Italy. Returning again to Switzerland, he met there with Mickiewicz, and they made together the tour of that romantic country. The daily association with that far-famed poet kindled the slumbering sparks of creative genius in the soul of Sigismund. ”

“ For a time Count Krasinski resided in Paris, in which city his wife, Maria, a princess of the house of Radziwill, presented him with a son, born on the 19th of February, 1812, who received in baptism the name of Sigismund Napoleon. This boy became the "Anonymous Poet of Poland."
Bitterly deceived were the high hopes of the Poles. After the signing of the act of abdication by Napoleon, April 11, 1814, Count Vincent Krasinski, then under orders from the Czar Alexander, led the unhappy remnants of the Polish legions back from France into Poland. ”

“ They are to be looked for in a higher region,—in a love for justice, and a clear and far-reaching insight into truth, into its development in things yet to be, a power of so distinctly portraying the future that one is strongly disposed to characterize his works as "Apocalyptic." ”

“ Toward the end of the year 1847, and about a year after the birth of his second son, Sigismund returned to Rome, and was consequently an eye-witness of the political scenes occurring during 1848 in the capital of the world. His religious feelings were always deep, and it was most natural that during his sojourn in Rome, a man of his character and antecedents should become through conviction an ardent champion of the Catholic Church. ”

“ The malady of his eyes, as well as his general ill health, held him aloof from society, limiting his intercourse to a few trusted friends, among whom was Amilie Zaluska, who had grown up with him, and whom he loved as a sister. ”

“ It appointed lawyers as counsel for the prisoners; the proceedings were public, and lasted a month, when the court, with the exception of one dissentient voice, set aside the charge of high treason, and gave their decision: "Not guilty;" a decision based on the principle that all Poles naturally desire the independence of their fatherland. The one dissenting Polish voice was that of General Count Vincent Krasinski, the father of our Poet! ”