In 2018, Glagoslav Publications published Adam Mickiewicz's collection of sonnets titled The Sonnets: Including the Erotic Sonnets, the Crimean Sonnets, and Uncollected Sonnets translated by former The Polish Review editor-in-chief, Charles S. Kraszewski. Kraszewski is a poet and a translator. He has published books of poetry, translated Mickiewicz's renowned dramatic masterpiece Dziady [Forefathers’ eve, 1823–1832], and other Polish authors such as Zygmunt Krasiński and Stanisław Wyspiański. In his robust collection of Mickiewicz's Sonnets, Kraszewski adds an original voice to Mickiewicz's oeuvre. Whereas Mickiewicz's notable works—namely Forefathers’ Eve and Ballady i romanse [Ballads and romances, 1822]—dive into supernatural and mystical realms, the Sonnets, albeit lyrical and whimsical, are grounded in the rational world. Mickiewicz conjures concrete images of love, loss, and longing, and with Kraszewski's translations, the sonnets are made accessible to English-speaking audiences.
Mickiewicz, born in 1798 in Zaosie, Lithuania, is known for launching the Romantic era in...
