Four Plays: Mary Stuart, Kordian, Balladyna, Horsztyński

The crypt of Wawel Cathedral in Kraków is the Polish nation's greatest pantheon. Here lie the earthly remains of its storied kings and queens, and two of its greatest poets, Adam Mickiewicz and Juliusz Slowacki. At the conclusion of his speech at Slowacki's reburial in 1927, Marshal Józef Pilsudski commanded the guard of honour: "In the name of the Republic, I direct you, gentlemen, to carry this sarcophagus into the royal crypt, for he who rests within was no less a king." Slowacki, who on...