Romanticism is sometimes regarded as the source of Polish cultural identity. It’s true that this period uniquely combines literary work with political engagement. However, Romanticism is not such a distant history for us, contemporaries, as we still debate the ideas and works created in that period. As the bicentenary of the publication of Adam Mickiewicz’s Ballads and Romances approaches (in 2022), we recall the work that marked the turn of Romanticism in Polish culture. Is it only Polish, though?