The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Slowacki, Julius

SLOWACKI, slō-vä'kē, Julius, Polish poet: b. Kremenecz, in Volhynia, 23 Aug. 1809; d. Paris, 3 April 1849. He was educated in the University of Vilna. His first work was the poetic tale &lsquo;Hugo&rsquo;; this was followed by the tragedy &lsquo;Mindowe&rsquo; (1829); the poem &lsquo;Mnich&rsquo; (the &lsquo;Monk&rsquo;); and the tragedy &lsquo;Marya Stuart&rsquo; (1830); in all of which he was under the influence of Byron; but escapes from it in the &lsquo;Ode to Liberty&rsquo;; &lsquo;Hymn to the Mother of God&rsquo;; and &lsquo;Song of the Lithuanian Legion&rsquo; (1831) . The sentiment of Polish nationality finds fullest expression in the dramatic poem &lsquo;Kordyan&rsquo; (1834), and in the tragedy &lsquo;Mazeppa.&rsquo; Slowacki reaches the height of his lyric power in the poem &lsquo;In Switzerland.&rsquo; His last great work, left incomplete, was &lsquo;King Spirit,&rsquo; which he designed to be a &ldquo;legend of the ages&rdquo; of Polish history. See.