Meeting with Adam Mickiewicz in Rome

Meeting with Adam Mickiewicz in Rome

Commemorative book to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of Adam Mickiewicz’s birth (1798 – 1898).
Volume I, Warsaw 1898, pp. 43 – 44.

Describing her stay with her husband in Rome, Mrs. Henrykowa Rzewuska writes among other things:

“…Adam Mickiewicz was our daily guest, my first meeting with him was when he entered with his innate liveliness and asked: is Mr. Henryk Rzewuski here? I said my husband had gone out; I asked who he was? I was delighted with this acquaintance and from then on there was no dinner without him; he was our dear housemate. My husband was under the influence of his poetic spirit, and at his call, at his encouragement, he took up the pen; as for me, my state of suffering might have bored him, yet with great kindness of heart he endured my ailing being, more in bed than on my feet; I remember once, he on the other side of the room, on the couch, opposite me leaned his head against the wall and said: “You know, madam, if I were to create a woman for a wife, I would create one like you.”

This emotional outburst surprised me, because just then, seeing him thoughtful, it seemed more likely that he would confide to me about his love for Miss Henryeta Ankwicz, a wealthy only child, who did not appreciate him enough to marry him. However, he loved her very much, we always laughed at his deep sighs. One time I was very impressed by his devotion. We were going to the tomb of St. Peter, to receive the Holy Sacraments, there Fr. Stanisław (Fr. Chołoniewski, a cousin of the Grocholskis), having a holy mass, spoke in Polish while giving the Holy Host and Mickiewicz approached it. A beautiful crucifix Fr. Stanisław gave to Mickiewicz that day; I have a bronze wreath from him on my crucifix.

It was easy for Fr. Stanisław to exert a benevolent influence on his soul. His soul, simple, noble, without deceit, submitted to reason, which shows all our benefit in God’s service; it alone strengthens our weakness and prepares us for the life destined for us in heaven. I saw the beautiful illumination of the dome of St. Peter’s Church, we stood among the crowd, for better viewing they brought me a chair on which I stood, Mickiewicz held it. I admired the illumination, the most perfect that humanity can achieve, but he turned my attention to a more magnificent, more perfect creation, saying to me: “Raise your eyes, madam, to that starry sky, it is a more beautiful sight than that which human littleness can achieve.”

We once went with Mickiewicz to the Villa Panfili, there, neither the beauty of the umbrella pines, nor the organ music moved by water, could lessen his longing for his homeland…

…One morning, after Easter, when I had the balcony doors open to my terrace, Mickiewicz entered, overwhelmed with sadness at the necessity of leaving Rome…