Ameryka Tadeusza Micińskiego: poetycka mitologia czasów wojny

Abstract

In the paper, the author offers her interpretation of a recently discovered poem by Tadeusz Miciński (1873–1918), a Polish writer of the Young Poland period. The poem, titled Hymn do Ameryki Zjednoczonych Stanów [A Hymn to the United States of America], was originally published in Petrograd in 1917, in the “Gazeta Polska” periodical. It is a poetic response to President Woodrow Wilson’s address in which the United States declared war on Germany. Miciński’s interpretation of this fact is hymnal, almost prayerful in nature. On the one hand, he sees it as a fulfilment of the predestined geopolitical role of the United States in the world. On the other hand, the event gives testimony to the metaphysical brotherhood of America and Poland grounded on the idea of liberty and embodied by Kazimierz Pułaski and Tadeusz Kościuszko, who fought for America’s independence in the 18th century.