524 POSTSCRIPT
observe its high ideals, but stands none the less as an enduring symbol of moral
purpose in European life:
Moral right is in me, and the starry sky is above
So what, if the Law is disgraced by barbarity?
Let the moons revolve in their fixed and perfect courses.
May the sky at least retain its purity.^1Polish History, viewed as a scientific process or as a national crusade, carries
little coherence or conviction. But viewed as the playground of mischievous
fate, it does begin to assume a measure of intelligibility. Its essence cannot be
properly described in a thousand pages of learned commentary but it is some-
time captured by a few frail lines of poetry:
I build on the sand,
And down it tumbled.
I built on rock, and
That, too soon crumbled.
So now, whenever I think of building,
Or perhaps not,
I first plan the wisp of smoke, curling
From the chimney-pot.^2Hence, the dilemmas of Poland's past constantly prompt anxieties about
Poland's future. For much of modern history Poles asked themselves how their
country could be restored to its former independent condition, and, more
importantly, what kind of country the independent Poland should be: in
Lelewel's words, Polska tak, ale jakal (Poland yes, but what sort of Poland?).
The first question was answered by the outcome of two terrible World Wars,
and more recently by the collapse of Communism in 1989-91. The second ques-
tion, as ever, remains.