Something you did athens, Socrates
The song comes from January 1856 year, It was created at the news of bringing the corpse of Adam Mickiewicz to Paris and is one of the series of Norwid's works on the outstanding, deceased people (np. General Bem, Chopen, Brown). Norwid was always clearly interested in the fate of extraordinary characters, He considered them primarily in the context of the relationship between brilliant individuals and the whole society. As a rule, this led to very pessimistic (and generalizing) conclusions, statement of ingratitude, Consignments from the general public, Often even persecution, tragic death. Certainly, the most important reason for such interests was the poet's personal situation: lonely, misunderstood, underestimated by contemporary.
The analyzed poem recalls a long series of characters, which laid great merits for various nations. Their fate turned out to be similarly tragic: Socrates was poisoned, Dante was banished from Florence, Columbus was buried three times, twice Napoleon and Kościuszko. Reminding each of these characters is accompanied by a rhetorical question: Something you homeland / He did to the world, that… Mickiewicz's case remains open: Something you did to people, Mickiewicz? Probably in his case the correctness emphasized in this poem will be repeated: outstanding units are not properly appreciated by modern, Only future generations fully understand the importance of their deeds, work. A longer perspective is needed, to properly assess the achievements of outstanding people, cut the discussions about this, do they deserve eternal memory, respect of nations. Society, as if in a sense of guilt for underestimating great countrymen at the right moment, felt the obligation to repeat these, who They were without the place first (then as if they were risen, which is in the song a clear reference to the Bible):
Anyone like you can not
Immediately take it on a calm bed,
And he never accepted, like age age,
Because clay in clay is blended without a break,
When conflicting bodies are caught up with studs
Later… or first…
Suffering, The tragic fate must become the participation of any brilliant rebel, trying to break the stereotypes of thinking, remaining the faithful to the ideals. Respect, recognition of the nation, or nations, It only comes after death. The future creates the right perspective, appropriate measure of ratings. It is very difficult to see contemporary, that someone living right next to them is a unit affecting the fate of the world, nation, civilization, human thoughts, art. Outstanding units are rejected, Death ends the period of their life disasters and begins the final victory, the resurrection of their ideas takes place, work, deeds.
The poem has a three -tree system, Individual parts differ in terms of construction. The first is composed of seven tercons (Two verses are eleven, one five), The second is seven eleven -legged verses, Third six verses – Five eleven and last five.