''Beniowski'' is a poem written and composed by one of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

's "Three National Bards",

Juliusz Słowacki Juliusz Słowacki (; french: Jules Slowacki; 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 m ...

. The first section was published in 1841, however the remaining parts were written by Antoni Malecki after Słowacki's death in 1849. The content of the poem summarizes the events that occurred during the infamous Bar Confederation; the fight against the

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

and rebellious Ruthenian peasants, which took place in the

Eastern borderlands Eastern Borderlands ( pl, Kresy Wschodnie) or simply Borderlands ( pl, Kresy, ) was a term coined for the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic during the interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural and extensively multi-ethnic, it ...

(Polish: ''Kresy'') of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It tells the story of Maurycy Beniowski, an impoverished

nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteris ...

and aristocrat in the region of

Podolia Podolia or Podilia ( uk, Поділля, Podillia, ; russian: Подолье, Podolye; ro, Podolia; pl, Podole; german: Podolien; be, Падолле, Padollie; lt, Podolė), is a historic region in Eastern Europe, located in the west-central ...

, and his love to a wealthy lady living in a nearby castle with her intolerant family. The poem is often described as digressive. It is a composition that marks a temporary shift of a subject; the digression ends when the plot returns to the main topic. Furthermore, Słowacki has intentionally used digression to create a somewhat rhetorical meaning to the text.

References

Polish poems 1841 poems Works by Juliusz Słowacki {{Poem-stub