after reading that work he was ready to challenge Mickiewicz for a duel; that did not come to pass but from that moment on, Słowacki would see Mickiewicz as his main rival. Few days later, antagonized by worsening reception of his works among the Polish émigré community in Paris, including sharp criticism from Mickiewicz, Słowacki left on a trip to Geneva, Switzerland. The French authorities denied him the right to return to France as part of a larger program to rid the country of the potentially subversive Polish exiles who had settled there. From 1833 to 1836, he lived in Switzerland. The third volume of his poems, published in 1833 and contains works from the period of the Uprising, was far more nationalist in tone and won more recognition in his homeland. At the same time, he wrote several works featuring romantic themes, and beautiful scenery, such as W Szwajcarii (In Switzerland), Rozłączenie (Separation), Stokrótki (Daisies) and Chmury (Clouds). In 1834 he published the drama Kordian, a romantic drama, illustrating the soul searching of the Polish people in the aftermath of the failed insurrection; this work is considered one of his best creations. In 1836, Słowacki left Switzerland and embarked on a journey that started in Italy. In Rome he met, befriended, and fell in love with Zygmunt Krasiński, the third of the Three Bards. Krasiński is considered the first serious literary critic of Słowacki's work. Słowacki would dedicate several of his works, including Balladyna, to Krasiński, and in their exchange of letters they explicitly described their strong feelings and longing for each other. From Rome, Słowacki went to Naples and later, to Sorrento. In August he left for Greece (Corfu, Argos, Athens, Syros), Egypt (Alexandria, Cairo, El Arish) and the Middle East, including the Holy Land (Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Jericho, Nazareth) and neighboring territories (Damascus, Beirut). It was a journey Słowacki described in his epic poem Podróż do Ziemi Świętej z Neapolu ("Travel to the Holy Land from Naples"); his other works of that period inclucded the poem Ojciec zadżumionych (The Father of the Plague-stricken), Grób Agamemnon (Agamemnon's Grave), Rozmowa z piramidami (A talk with the pyramids), Anhelli and Listy poetyckie z Egiptu (Poetic Letters from Egypt). In June 1837 he returned to Italy, settling briefly in Florence, and moved back to Paris in December 1838. In 1840 Mickiewicz was elected to the position of professor of Slavic literature at