Published in German-occupied Warsaw, this underground anthology of war poetry pays tribute to a spirit that, despite coercion and violence, remained both independent and invincible. That spirit moved the underground resistance but also expressed itself as a simple will for survival shared by the whole nation. The anthology reflects multifarious reactions to the war: at times a warrior’s song and a call to arms, it is also a complaint and cry of despair, a philosophical reflection and a reaffirmation of faith.

Divided into five sections, The Invincible Song follows the evolution of intellectual and emotional responses to the war, starting with prophetic forebodings of an approaching catastrophe (poems written before 1939) and ending with nostalgic evocations of a “paradise lost” (poems written in emigration).

The most surprising fact about this book is that when read in 1982, it has lost no relevance. Far from being a document of the past, it addresses problems that are still alive in Poland today: the problem of national survival, the creation of social structures defying an imposed order, the moral dilemmas facing the individual.

— Bogdana Carpenter

Publisher: Michigan Slavic Publications

Year of Publication: 1981

Location: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

# of Pages: 127

Price: $10.00

ISBN: 0-930042-41-7

Format: Hardcover

Series Name / Number: Michigan Slavic Materials [MSM] / 18