Are we
degenerate?
Poland - 1881 - Poets and Poetry of Poland
76 POETS AND POETRY OF POLAND.
Charm'd by her influence even the fishes stray
Wandering enamor'd round her witching way,
Each fed by love and mastered by desire,
Even in the wave glows passion's busy fire.
How should I struggle 'gainst the flame when thou
Art the bright Venus that inspires me now!
Damet.
The night bird sings upon the hazel tree,
The wind sweeps by, the leaves dance murmuringly.
She speaks, -- the nightingale his strains gives't o'er.
The leaves are still, the rude wind speaks no more.
Myrtil.
Fair is the rose when laughing in its bud,
Fair o'er the plain towers the tall cedar wood.
She comes! the cedars and the rose are dull;
Even Lebanon bows, though proud and beautiful.
Damet.
The moon obeys the sun, and every star . . . .
Pays homage to the moon; the twilight far
Leads in and out the shifting days ; and so
I dwell with thee, my fair! where'er thou go.
Myrtil.
On the proud world the sun delighted beams,
Piercing the blue depth of the rolling streams.
So would I bathe me in thy azure eyes,
And drown me in thy heart's deep mysteries.
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? GAWIN? SKI. 77
'Twas thus the shepherds sung. The sky above
Looked smiling on their strains of eloquent love;
And Amaryllis, from the blooming thorn
Tore a white sprig their temples to adorn:
And from that hour t' enjoy their simple airs
She often came, and mixed her flocks with theirs.
BONES ON THE BATTLE-FIELD.
Traveler, our bones are bleaching on the ground,
And yet unburied. Pity not our doom.
Ours is a grave of glory, shrouded round
In virtue, and the vault of heaven our tomb.
SOLDIER SLAIN.
I fought, my land, for thee! for thee I fell;
On, not beneath, the turf I rest my head.
Witness, my country, that I loved thee well;
Living, I served thee, and I guard thee dead.
THE PLOUGHMAN AND THE LARK.
Sweet lark ! the twilight of the dewy morn
Calls me to plough, and to thy music thee.
Blessings be with us ! on thy notes be borne
Success: -- I toil. I sow for thee and me.
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? ELIZABETH DRUZ? BACKA.
78
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? DRUZ? BACKA. 79
DRUZ? BACKA.
Elizabeth Druz? backa sprung from a very respecta-
ble family of Kowalski, and occupies an important
rank in Polish literature; in fact, she must be con-
sidered as the first Polish poetess. Possessing a true
poetic feeling of the heart, she placed herself at once
in the first poetic rank of those days. She was able to
get rid of the literary contamination of that age, and
wrote in pure Polish.
Among her poems deserving especial notice are,
"The Christian History of the Princess Elefantina,"
" The Life of David," "The Praise of Forests," " The
Penance of Mary Magdalen," "The Four Seasons,"
etc. etc. Madam Druz? backa possessed an inborn
talent for poetry, but the defective taste of the age
taints some of her compositions; still, there is much
wit and beauty in her poetic productions. She was not
a learned woman, and spoke but her own native tongue,
but born with a natural inclination for writing poetry,
she exhibits great vigor of conception of thought, live-
liness of imagination, and originality in her creations.
The buoyant fancy and strong feeling united with piety
devoid of fanaticism were the chief traits of Druz? -
backa.
She was born in 1687, and passed her younger days
with Madam Sieniawska, Castelane of Cracow, where
she married and became acquainted with the highest
circles of Polish society. Her husband being one of
the king's officials she lived in Great Poland. After
the death of her husband she entered the convent of
Lady Bernardines, at Tarno? w, but was not initiated in-
to the order. She died in 1754.
6
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? 80 POETS AND POETRY OF POLAND.
SPRING.
O golden season in childlike disguise,
Gay Spring ! so gratefully we feel thy smile
We needs must overlook thy vagaries
Whether thy winds blow cold or warmly wile ;
Or thou with childlike freedom dost presume
To fright with snow the flowers that earliest bloom.
But shouldst thou frighten thou wilt do no harm,
Neither with freezing cold nor sultry glare ;
Thou pleasant season! adding to each charm
An understanding with the sun and air.
Thou knowest when to warm and when to cool,
And age refreshed grows young beneath thy rule.
Thou hast the power to unbind the earth
From frosty chains and give her liberty --
A loving child to her who gave thee birth,
Her fetters fall from her when touched by thee.
And through the warmth that in thy bosom stirs
The icy grasp is loosed at length from hers.
When passes winter's dark, tyrannic sway,
From thee the earth fresh inspiration draws
Thou openest warm thoroughfares each day
Where frozen clod and hardened debris thaws.
When thy soft breath goes forth upon the Earth, ?
Life conquers death in all renewing birth.
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? SARBIEWSKI. 81
SARBIEWSKI.
Mathew Casimir Sarbiewski, who gained much
fame as a Polish lyrist in Latin, was born in 1595. He
was especially admired for his correctness of expres-
sion and the beauty of poetic turns. He was called
the Polish. Horace in an age when the knowledge of
the Latin tongue was considered as the highest accom-
plishment/ He was so perfect in the handling of
Latin that he outstripped all other Latin poets; his
poetic flight was one of an eagle, and no one has ap-
proached Horace nearer than he.
Sarbiewski entered the Society of Jesuits in 1613,
and lectured in the college of Wilno on the rules of
oratory. He then went to Pome, where he became
very famous, and where he was crowned with a poetic
wreath by Urban VII. Returning to Poland Sigis-
mund III named him a court-preacher to his son
Laclislaus IV and chose him as his personal companion
and friend.
Sarbiewski was quite an artist on the harp, and
sang well. "With these he amused and cheered the
king, and also interested him with his instructive con-
versation. Inseparable from the king he traveled with
him not only through Poland, but also into foreign
countries. He died April 2, 1640. During his life-
time he formed many intimate friendships with the
literary men of his time, and Dr. Watts translated and
imitated many of Sarbiewski's lyrics.
Sarbiewski's works were published in many places,
such as Cologne, Wilno, Antwerp, Cracow, Paris, Bres-
lau, and London. Louis Kondratowicz, an eminent
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? [If
82 POETS AND POETRY OF POLAND.
Polish poet and scholar, is the translator of Sarbiew-
ski's Latin poems into Polish.
TO THE CICADA.
Thou, whose voice in the grove's silence is heard aloft,
While thou drinkest the tear-drops of the heavenly dews,
Thy sweet music, Cicada,
In thine ecstasy pouring forth.
Come! come! summer on light wheels is advancing fast,
While the hastening suns move, be they hail'd but chid
For their tarrying too < long,
When the frosts of the winter flee.
As days dawn in their joy so they depart in haste;
So flee, speedily flee; speedily speeds our bliss.
Too short are its abidings ; --
But grief lingeringly dwells with man.
TO THE POLISH AND LITHUANIAN KNIGHTS.
Poles! O let no foreign customs throw their
Scandal among you. Teach religious duties,
Laws of your country, virtues of your fathers,
Teach to your children.
Sacred your temples, -- your tribunals, justice;
Peace, truth, and love dwell midst you, omnipresent;
All that is vile and all that is unholy,
Drive from your country!
Walls screen not crime, and punishment will force its
Way through the towers and through the thrice-bound portals,
Smiting the vicious. Thunderbolts but wait to
Burst on the vile one.
Painted deceit, tyrannical ambition;
Wealth-seeking lust, and luxury's excesses
Chase them far from you; let them never hold a
Throne in your bosom.
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? SARBIEWSKI. 83
Poverty gives to man unwonted vigor,
Teaches him patience 'neath the weight of suffering,
Arms him with courage ; but the stolen armour
Wearies, though golden.
Whether your lot be war or peace, ye Poles !
Still be united, for united brothers
Stand like a temple on a hundred pillars,
Firmly supported.
So midst the rocks the sailor in his prudence
Looks to the stars ; and so the friendly anchor
Steadies the vessel on the heaving ocean, --
Steadies it surely.
So does the bond that binds the social fabric
Strengthen; while strife and mighty fraud and rancour
Overthrow cities, threatening desolation
E'en to the mightiest.
TO LIBERTY.
Queen of brave nations : -- Liberty !
What land thy favorite seat shall be?
What land more suited to thy reign
Than Poland's fertile, charming plain?
Daughter of council and of bliss
The mother and the nurse of peace;
Thou, sought midst many dangers round,
Midst more than many dangers found;
Higher than thrones thy throne we see.
Majestic more than majesty;
Thou mistress of our country's fame,
Now stop thy course, -- thy smile we claim.
Arrest thy cloud-encircled car,
And linger where thy votaries are!
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? 84 POETS AND POETRY OF POLAND,
0, see upon thy Vistula
Lithuania's sons in long array,
The Lechan and Littavian ranks
Like sea-waves gathering on its banks;
No servile crowds we bring to thee,
But heirs of ancient bravery :
Sons of the North, whose blood remains
As pure as in their fathers' veins;
Untaught from faith and truth to swerve,
Train'd by the laws their king to serve,
They spurn a stranger's stern commands,
And love their land o'er other lands !
And is there ought so purely bright
As when in truth and virtue's light
Impartial Freedom deigns to shed
Her joys on prince and people's head?
Then the unfettered man disdains
Sloth's soul-debilitating chains,
And Genius, like a conqueror, flies
On to the goal and claims the prize.
No foreign calls our ranks can move;
We but obey the chief we love,
And follow where his footsteps lead,
To freedom's goal and victory's meed;
As o'er Carpathia's hoary height
Our sires achieved a glorious fight;
And on the widespread field of Thrace
Our fathers found their triumph-place;
And when our flags waved smiling o'er
The Bosphorus and the Baltic shore.
And proud Teutonia, bearing all
Her Asian spoils, was forced to fall
Before those iron columns we
Had rear'd to mark our sovereignty;
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? SARBIEWSKI. 85
Those mighty trophies of the brave,
The unconquerable Boles? aw;
And by the Borysthene's side,
And by the Volga's current wide.
And past the Alexandrian's shrines
And to those dark Lapponian mines,
Where the fierce North wind has its birth:
We trod the far Danubian earth.
Saw old Bootes freeze his waves,
And dug for the Meotians, graves.
Are we degenerate? Shall the fame
Of our own fathers blast our name ?
Smile on our prayers, O Liberty !
And let the world thy dwelling be.
Urban* and Ferdinand combine,
O Wladislaw, their powers with thine.
And the world calls thee to confer
Her laurels on the conqueror, --
Thou, Sigismund's illustrious son,
Thou of the blood of Jagellon.
O what can darken, what delay
The glory of our future day?
Hail Wladislaw! thou hope of man,
Fav'rite of God, our Poland's van.
All hail ! our warrior senate cries.
All hail ! a people's voice replies.
A thousand lances shine around,
All hills and vales and woods resound
The song of joy. And raised above
His watery throne, his praise and love
* Urban VIII, who distinguished Sarbiewski by very marked at-
tentions, and when they parted hung around his neck a golden cross
to which a miniature of his Holiness was attached.
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? 86 POETS AND POETRY OF POLAND.
Old Vistula shouts forth ; -- their brow-
Proudly the Crapack mountains bow-
In homage.
Say what projects vast
Struggling in thy great soul hast?
For such a soul unceasing teems
With mighty thoughts and glorious dreams,
And still springs forward to the praise
Of distant deeds and future days:
Nor sloth nor luxury shall impede
That opening fame, that dawning deed;
Or quiet wisdom to o'erthrow
The dark designings of the foe,
Or splendid daring -- swift and bold,
Sweeping like surges uncontroll'd,
The heir-loom of thy sires of old.
Thus did the Jagellons, they spread
Their praise, their glory and their dread --
Envied, admired, and fear'd -- the son
Soon made the father's fame his own:
And envy's wing could not pursue
A flight so high and glorious, too;
The ambitious son outshone the sire,
As glory's mark ascended higher.
Till to our thought no hopes remain
Their fame and glory to maintain.
This is our noblest heritage, --
A name, bequeathed from age to age.
For thee, from centuries afar
A mingled wreath of peace and war,
Have generations waited, -- now,
Wear the proud trophy on thy brow:
Make all thy father's victories thine,
With these thy gentle virtues twine ;
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? SARBIEWSKI. 87
Success shall show thee fairer, -- woe
Shall bid thy roots yet deeper grow.
Such are Sarmatia's prayers. Her prayers
Up to the heavens an angel bears ;
On vows no chance shall e'er repeal
Eternity has set her seal.
A THOUGHT.
(From Saphics. )
He has lived long and well whose death enforces
Tears from his neighbors, -- who has made his glory
Heir to himself, -- rapacious time will plunder
All, all -- besides it.
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? 88 POETS AND POETRY OF POLAND.
KONAKSKL*
Stanislaus Hieronim Konarski belongs to the
greatest practical philosophers of the age. It was he
who, having ascertained by his learning and compre-
hensive powers of the mind the vanity and absurdity
of the ways and manners of education and enlighten-
ment practiced in the period in which he lived, by his
writings scattered to the winds the darkness, reinstated
the freedom of thought, and presented to his country^
men fresher models than the old musty Latin works;
implanted into the minds of Polish youth new ideas
tending to moral improvement, and awakened the true
spirit of inquiry after learning. He struck the old
pedantism a heavy blow, introducing in its stead fresh-
ness and naturalness of expression and modern concep-
tions. His works written on the subject had a great in-
fluence on the reform of Polish literature, because they
not only treated on aesthetics but also on moral and
practical philosophy. The most prominent of these
are ' ' De Emendandis Vitiis" and ' ' Yolumina Legum. ' '
The first treats extensively of the defective style of
writing and oratory, but what is most curious and cred-
itable to him is that in order to have his criticism fall
gently upon the works of his predecessors and contem-
poraries, he very good humoredly criticised some of
his own works formerly written, and pointed out his
own defects with unsparing justice. In ' ' Yolumini de
Legum " he endeavored, with much zeal for the public
* Although not a poet was a man of eminent literary talents, and
having created a new epoch in Polish literature deserves an honored
place here.
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? KONARSKI. 89
good, to collect different statutes and scattered consti-
tutions into a settled code of laws. That successful
service to his country accomplished much good, and
was of itself enough to immortalize his name. In his
" Art of Correct Thinking. Without Which There Can-
not Be Correct Speaking. " where, in sensible and
judicious observations he straightens out the mind of
the Polish youth by numerous and well-selected ex-
amples, adducing also specimens of beautiful and per-
fect oratory. The especial merit of this work is that
it contains a great deal of useful matter necessary to
the Polish people of those days. It was the noble aim
of the author to put down prejudices, and lit the mind
for the reception of useful truths. The fourth work of
Konarski was " Of Successful ^Tay and Manner of Ad-
vising. " ^Ve can place that work among those produc-
tions of which the Polish nation has a right to be proud.
You can see in it a true citizen, whose heart burns with
love to his country, and earnestly engaged with the
welfare of his fellow- citizens. In writing this work tor
a people who were not as yet well versed in political
science, and promulgating certain truths contrary to the
common prejudices of the majority, he had to use vari-
ous methods to elucidate, explain, and adapt them to
the understanding of all. The fifth production of this
distinguished man was "Of Religion, of Honest Peo-
ple, and Against the Doctrines of Deism. " wherein the
author endeavors to convince his readers that without
religion morality cannot have solid foundation; hence,
good and virtuous intentions of a community are flimsy
and uncertain unless supported by religious convic-
tions.
Taking it as a whole Konarski" s writings show
genius. His correct views in the matter of presented
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? 90 POETS AND POETRY OF POLAND.
subjects; his lively imagination; broad and sensible
explanations, and above all his power of philosophical
reasoning, emanating from his profound knowledge of
the subjects upon which he treats, places him in the
highest ranks of Polish writers.
Konarski was born in 1700, and received his in-
itiatory education at the institution of the Order of
Piiars, which order he entered in the seventeenth year
of his age, and against the wishes of his powerful rela-
tives.
He was soon transferred thence to the College of
Warsaw as the professor of philosophy. In the year
1725, with the advice of his uncle Tar? o, the bishop of
Posen, he went to Italy, where, in the city of Rome,
he gave lectures on oratory and history. From Rome
he went to Paris, where he closely connected himself
by the ties of friendship with the celebrated Fontenelle,
the great philosopher, orator, and poet. After a lapse
of six years he returned to his country and became
professor of history in Cracow, then lie occupied the
same dignity at Rzeszo? w, and was made Provincial of
his order. In the year 1743 he established a boarding-
school for the youth of the nobles, or Collegium ~No-
bilium. He also established similar schools at Wilno
and Lemberg. At his Warsaw college he arranged the
building so that a part of it was appropriated exclu-
sively for dramatic representations, and dramatic plays
of the most celebrated tragic poets were there repre-
sented, especially the French: Corneille, Racine, and
Crebillon. Konarski had also a great influence in
putting down the liberum veto, receiving for the great
service the hate of second-class nobility.
In 1748 he again left his native land for other coun-
tries. He visited France and the most celebrated acad-
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? KOXAKSKI. 91
emies, and returning to Warsaw employed himself in
finishing his " Collegium," which was opened in 1754.
In 1719 Komorowski, the Primas, sent Konarski to
Rome in an important cause, which mission he fulfilled
with great credit to himself. He lived on terms of
friendship with the most distinguished men of his age,
and almost of all countries, who frequently sought his
advice. He was personally known to Pope Benedict
XIY, to August II and III, as also to Stanislaus Lesz-
czyn? ski, whom he accompanied to Lotaringia (Lorraine).
In France he had insured to him by Louis XY the in-
come of two abbacies. Ranks of dignity which were
frequently offered to him he would never accept; hence,
for the bishopric by Benedict XIY, as also for the
bishopric of Przemys? l by August II, and the same dig-
nity offered him by King Stanislaus Poniatowski, in
Livonia, he only returned thanks but would not accept
of them. The king wishing to honor Konarski for his
great labors ordered a medal to be struck in his honor,
with the inscription, Sapere Auso (To him who dared
to be wise). He died in 1773.
His work, " De Emendandis Vitiis" was published
in Warsaw in 1741; " Of the Art of Correct Think-
ings also in Warsaw in 1767; " The Best Mode in
Advising" in 1760, and " Of Religion " in 1769.
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? 92 POETS AND POETRY OF POLAND.
JSTAPOJSZEWICZ.
Adam Stanislaus Naruszewicz, although brought up
according to the old customs of the country, was never-
theless a quick learner of the new social and political
elements which began to permeate through the higher
and more advanced social circles in Poland; hence he
may be considered as the incarnation of two different
epochs. His writings, therefore, are the depositories
of two contending intervals. In them he boldly educts
the progressive principle, fearlessly attacking the
corruption of the age and handling without gloves the
pretentions of the nobility, indolence, extravagance,
and other national defects.
As a poet he represents two sides, diametrically
opposite to each other : -- one that of a panegyrist, the
other that of a satirist. He wrote odes, satires, fables,
and idyls, which in those times comprised about the
whole poetical cycle, which he considered as his own,
and which would serve him to pave the way to dis-
tinction and fame.
Although there is much of the poetic spirit in his
odes, yetas a whole, emanating from different circum-
stances, adverse to poetic inspiration and replete with
exaggerated flattery, they do not on that account pos-
sess much of poetical value. He had doubtless much
power and poetic ardor, and the spirit of his lyric
poetry could soar higher than any of his contempo-
raries. His lively and fiery imagination opened to him
a rich depository of bold and exalted thoughts; but
this life-giving ardor, this creativeness of imagination,
accompany the poet only when their incitement comes
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? NARUSZEWICZ. 93
from the deep feeling of truth, and when the theme
itself is worthy of poetic inspiration.
Many of his lyrics have only a semblance of decla-
mation, and a superficial luster takes place of emotion.
Their taste and style remind one of the compositions
of the sixteenth century. He speaks as a true lyrist
only when the theme is patriotic citizenship, and the
love of his country warms him up.
In his ]yric muse Naruszewicz constrains himself
to flights of fancy, and in his satires he cannot keep
away from exaggeration, though we may say that in his
satires he very properly points out national defects,
and white furnishing a great many progressive lessons,
he at the same time paints a faithful historical picture
of the blemishes of the existing social system. His
satire of "The Yoices of the Dead," as also " The
Return of the Senators," are written in an old, con-
strained style, full of ludicrous images. Naruszewicz
was very much addicted to the introduction of mytho-
logical personages, which he pours upon his readers
without stint. However, it was the failing of all the
poets of Stanislaus' Age, but Naruszewicz exceeds
them all.
In his satire "The Nobility " Naruszewicz strongly
upheld the privileges of birth ; indeed, he tried to build
a partisan wall between the two different classes which
was very distasteful even to his own kindred. In his
satire "The Folly" he represents a false devotee, or
we may say a downright hypocrite. "The Spoiled
Age " is a continual grumbling that things are not as
they should be. In his " Flattery " he ridiculed the
common national foible of court manners and the bad
influence they had on national literature. " The Lean
Litterateur " is another unique production, reminding
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? 94 POETS AND POETRY OF POLAND.
us of the sad epoch of superficiality when solid sciences
were not appreciated, and hence the true litterateur was
always lean and poor, and as a characteristic type it
went into a proverb.
As to idyllic compositions Naruszewicz had no great
talent. Accustomed to court life and a great friend to
a fashionable world, he could not understand nor ap-
preciate the charms of rural life; indeed, his pastorals
"The Farm-house," "The Happy Marriage," and
"Narcissus," have more of a satirical than of a pas-
toral turn. However, his Polish is pure and correct,
and in his power, freshness, and poetical imagery, he
is superior to Krasicki. Indeed, we find in his satires
many beautiful expressions, -- new and pleasing turns
with which he truly enriched the Polish literature.
Naruszewicz was born in 1733, receiving first rudi-
ments of education at Pin? sk. In 1748 he joined the
order of the Jesuits, which sent him to Lugdun. Re-
ceiving assistance from Prince Czartoryiski he per-
fected himself in learning in France, Italy, and Ger-
many. Returning to his own country he received the
professorship of the Cathedra of Poetry in the Academy
of Wilno, and subsequently of Warsaw. He was so
liked by the king, Stanislaus Augustus, that after the
abolition of the order he resided with him. After
receiving the abbacy of Niemencz? yn he was admitted
to the coadjutorship of the bishopric of Smolen? sk.
He afterward held the office of the Clerk of the Grand
Duchy of Lithuania; finally he was made a bishop.
Stanislaus Augustus honored him with a decoration,
and ordered a medal struck with visages of Sarbiewski
and Naruszewicz. He died in 1796 at Janowce.
His works were published in Warsaw in 1778-1803,
and at Leipzig in 1835. Naruszewicz's biography was
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? NARUSZEWICZ. 95
written by Julian Bartoszewicz in his work u Cele-
brated Men of Poland of the Eighteenth Century,"
published in St.
Charm'd by her influence even the fishes stray
Wandering enamor'd round her witching way,
Each fed by love and mastered by desire,
Even in the wave glows passion's busy fire.
How should I struggle 'gainst the flame when thou
Art the bright Venus that inspires me now!
Damet.
The night bird sings upon the hazel tree,
The wind sweeps by, the leaves dance murmuringly.
She speaks, -- the nightingale his strains gives't o'er.
The leaves are still, the rude wind speaks no more.
Myrtil.
Fair is the rose when laughing in its bud,
Fair o'er the plain towers the tall cedar wood.
She comes! the cedars and the rose are dull;
Even Lebanon bows, though proud and beautiful.
Damet.
The moon obeys the sun, and every star . . . .
Pays homage to the moon; the twilight far
Leads in and out the shifting days ; and so
I dwell with thee, my fair! where'er thou go.
Myrtil.
On the proud world the sun delighted beams,
Piercing the blue depth of the rolling streams.
So would I bathe me in thy azure eyes,
And drown me in thy heart's deep mysteries.
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? GAWIN? SKI. 77
'Twas thus the shepherds sung. The sky above
Looked smiling on their strains of eloquent love;
And Amaryllis, from the blooming thorn
Tore a white sprig their temples to adorn:
And from that hour t' enjoy their simple airs
She often came, and mixed her flocks with theirs.
BONES ON THE BATTLE-FIELD.
Traveler, our bones are bleaching on the ground,
And yet unburied. Pity not our doom.
Ours is a grave of glory, shrouded round
In virtue, and the vault of heaven our tomb.
SOLDIER SLAIN.
I fought, my land, for thee! for thee I fell;
On, not beneath, the turf I rest my head.
Witness, my country, that I loved thee well;
Living, I served thee, and I guard thee dead.
THE PLOUGHMAN AND THE LARK.
Sweet lark ! the twilight of the dewy morn
Calls me to plough, and to thy music thee.
Blessings be with us ! on thy notes be borne
Success: -- I toil. I sow for thee and me.
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? ELIZABETH DRUZ? BACKA.
78
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? DRUZ? BACKA. 79
DRUZ? BACKA.
Elizabeth Druz? backa sprung from a very respecta-
ble family of Kowalski, and occupies an important
rank in Polish literature; in fact, she must be con-
sidered as the first Polish poetess. Possessing a true
poetic feeling of the heart, she placed herself at once
in the first poetic rank of those days. She was able to
get rid of the literary contamination of that age, and
wrote in pure Polish.
Among her poems deserving especial notice are,
"The Christian History of the Princess Elefantina,"
" The Life of David," "The Praise of Forests," " The
Penance of Mary Magdalen," "The Four Seasons,"
etc. etc. Madam Druz? backa possessed an inborn
talent for poetry, but the defective taste of the age
taints some of her compositions; still, there is much
wit and beauty in her poetic productions. She was not
a learned woman, and spoke but her own native tongue,
but born with a natural inclination for writing poetry,
she exhibits great vigor of conception of thought, live-
liness of imagination, and originality in her creations.
The buoyant fancy and strong feeling united with piety
devoid of fanaticism were the chief traits of Druz? -
backa.
She was born in 1687, and passed her younger days
with Madam Sieniawska, Castelane of Cracow, where
she married and became acquainted with the highest
circles of Polish society. Her husband being one of
the king's officials she lived in Great Poland. After
the death of her husband she entered the convent of
Lady Bernardines, at Tarno? w, but was not initiated in-
to the order. She died in 1754.
6
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? 80 POETS AND POETRY OF POLAND.
SPRING.
O golden season in childlike disguise,
Gay Spring ! so gratefully we feel thy smile
We needs must overlook thy vagaries
Whether thy winds blow cold or warmly wile ;
Or thou with childlike freedom dost presume
To fright with snow the flowers that earliest bloom.
But shouldst thou frighten thou wilt do no harm,
Neither with freezing cold nor sultry glare ;
Thou pleasant season! adding to each charm
An understanding with the sun and air.
Thou knowest when to warm and when to cool,
And age refreshed grows young beneath thy rule.
Thou hast the power to unbind the earth
From frosty chains and give her liberty --
A loving child to her who gave thee birth,
Her fetters fall from her when touched by thee.
And through the warmth that in thy bosom stirs
The icy grasp is loosed at length from hers.
When passes winter's dark, tyrannic sway,
From thee the earth fresh inspiration draws
Thou openest warm thoroughfares each day
Where frozen clod and hardened debris thaws.
When thy soft breath goes forth upon the Earth, ?
Life conquers death in all renewing birth.
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? SARBIEWSKI. 81
SARBIEWSKI.
Mathew Casimir Sarbiewski, who gained much
fame as a Polish lyrist in Latin, was born in 1595. He
was especially admired for his correctness of expres-
sion and the beauty of poetic turns. He was called
the Polish. Horace in an age when the knowledge of
the Latin tongue was considered as the highest accom-
plishment/ He was so perfect in the handling of
Latin that he outstripped all other Latin poets; his
poetic flight was one of an eagle, and no one has ap-
proached Horace nearer than he.
Sarbiewski entered the Society of Jesuits in 1613,
and lectured in the college of Wilno on the rules of
oratory. He then went to Pome, where he became
very famous, and where he was crowned with a poetic
wreath by Urban VII. Returning to Poland Sigis-
mund III named him a court-preacher to his son
Laclislaus IV and chose him as his personal companion
and friend.
Sarbiewski was quite an artist on the harp, and
sang well. "With these he amused and cheered the
king, and also interested him with his instructive con-
versation. Inseparable from the king he traveled with
him not only through Poland, but also into foreign
countries. He died April 2, 1640. During his life-
time he formed many intimate friendships with the
literary men of his time, and Dr. Watts translated and
imitated many of Sarbiewski's lyrics.
Sarbiewski's works were published in many places,
such as Cologne, Wilno, Antwerp, Cracow, Paris, Bres-
lau, and London. Louis Kondratowicz, an eminent
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? [If
82 POETS AND POETRY OF POLAND.
Polish poet and scholar, is the translator of Sarbiew-
ski's Latin poems into Polish.
TO THE CICADA.
Thou, whose voice in the grove's silence is heard aloft,
While thou drinkest the tear-drops of the heavenly dews,
Thy sweet music, Cicada,
In thine ecstasy pouring forth.
Come! come! summer on light wheels is advancing fast,
While the hastening suns move, be they hail'd but chid
For their tarrying too < long,
When the frosts of the winter flee.
As days dawn in their joy so they depart in haste;
So flee, speedily flee; speedily speeds our bliss.
Too short are its abidings ; --
But grief lingeringly dwells with man.
TO THE POLISH AND LITHUANIAN KNIGHTS.
Poles! O let no foreign customs throw their
Scandal among you. Teach religious duties,
Laws of your country, virtues of your fathers,
Teach to your children.
Sacred your temples, -- your tribunals, justice;
Peace, truth, and love dwell midst you, omnipresent;
All that is vile and all that is unholy,
Drive from your country!
Walls screen not crime, and punishment will force its
Way through the towers and through the thrice-bound portals,
Smiting the vicious. Thunderbolts but wait to
Burst on the vile one.
Painted deceit, tyrannical ambition;
Wealth-seeking lust, and luxury's excesses
Chase them far from you; let them never hold a
Throne in your bosom.
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? SARBIEWSKI. 83
Poverty gives to man unwonted vigor,
Teaches him patience 'neath the weight of suffering,
Arms him with courage ; but the stolen armour
Wearies, though golden.
Whether your lot be war or peace, ye Poles !
Still be united, for united brothers
Stand like a temple on a hundred pillars,
Firmly supported.
So midst the rocks the sailor in his prudence
Looks to the stars ; and so the friendly anchor
Steadies the vessel on the heaving ocean, --
Steadies it surely.
So does the bond that binds the social fabric
Strengthen; while strife and mighty fraud and rancour
Overthrow cities, threatening desolation
E'en to the mightiest.
TO LIBERTY.
Queen of brave nations : -- Liberty !
What land thy favorite seat shall be?
What land more suited to thy reign
Than Poland's fertile, charming plain?
Daughter of council and of bliss
The mother and the nurse of peace;
Thou, sought midst many dangers round,
Midst more than many dangers found;
Higher than thrones thy throne we see.
Majestic more than majesty;
Thou mistress of our country's fame,
Now stop thy course, -- thy smile we claim.
Arrest thy cloud-encircled car,
And linger where thy votaries are!
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? 84 POETS AND POETRY OF POLAND,
0, see upon thy Vistula
Lithuania's sons in long array,
The Lechan and Littavian ranks
Like sea-waves gathering on its banks;
No servile crowds we bring to thee,
But heirs of ancient bravery :
Sons of the North, whose blood remains
As pure as in their fathers' veins;
Untaught from faith and truth to swerve,
Train'd by the laws their king to serve,
They spurn a stranger's stern commands,
And love their land o'er other lands !
And is there ought so purely bright
As when in truth and virtue's light
Impartial Freedom deigns to shed
Her joys on prince and people's head?
Then the unfettered man disdains
Sloth's soul-debilitating chains,
And Genius, like a conqueror, flies
On to the goal and claims the prize.
No foreign calls our ranks can move;
We but obey the chief we love,
And follow where his footsteps lead,
To freedom's goal and victory's meed;
As o'er Carpathia's hoary height
Our sires achieved a glorious fight;
And on the widespread field of Thrace
Our fathers found their triumph-place;
And when our flags waved smiling o'er
The Bosphorus and the Baltic shore.
And proud Teutonia, bearing all
Her Asian spoils, was forced to fall
Before those iron columns we
Had rear'd to mark our sovereignty;
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? SARBIEWSKI. 85
Those mighty trophies of the brave,
The unconquerable Boles? aw;
And by the Borysthene's side,
And by the Volga's current wide.
And past the Alexandrian's shrines
And to those dark Lapponian mines,
Where the fierce North wind has its birth:
We trod the far Danubian earth.
Saw old Bootes freeze his waves,
And dug for the Meotians, graves.
Are we degenerate? Shall the fame
Of our own fathers blast our name ?
Smile on our prayers, O Liberty !
And let the world thy dwelling be.
Urban* and Ferdinand combine,
O Wladislaw, their powers with thine.
And the world calls thee to confer
Her laurels on the conqueror, --
Thou, Sigismund's illustrious son,
Thou of the blood of Jagellon.
O what can darken, what delay
The glory of our future day?
Hail Wladislaw! thou hope of man,
Fav'rite of God, our Poland's van.
All hail ! our warrior senate cries.
All hail ! a people's voice replies.
A thousand lances shine around,
All hills and vales and woods resound
The song of joy. And raised above
His watery throne, his praise and love
* Urban VIII, who distinguished Sarbiewski by very marked at-
tentions, and when they parted hung around his neck a golden cross
to which a miniature of his Holiness was attached.
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? 86 POETS AND POETRY OF POLAND.
Old Vistula shouts forth ; -- their brow-
Proudly the Crapack mountains bow-
In homage.
Say what projects vast
Struggling in thy great soul hast?
For such a soul unceasing teems
With mighty thoughts and glorious dreams,
And still springs forward to the praise
Of distant deeds and future days:
Nor sloth nor luxury shall impede
That opening fame, that dawning deed;
Or quiet wisdom to o'erthrow
The dark designings of the foe,
Or splendid daring -- swift and bold,
Sweeping like surges uncontroll'd,
The heir-loom of thy sires of old.
Thus did the Jagellons, they spread
Their praise, their glory and their dread --
Envied, admired, and fear'd -- the son
Soon made the father's fame his own:
And envy's wing could not pursue
A flight so high and glorious, too;
The ambitious son outshone the sire,
As glory's mark ascended higher.
Till to our thought no hopes remain
Their fame and glory to maintain.
This is our noblest heritage, --
A name, bequeathed from age to age.
For thee, from centuries afar
A mingled wreath of peace and war,
Have generations waited, -- now,
Wear the proud trophy on thy brow:
Make all thy father's victories thine,
With these thy gentle virtues twine ;
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? SARBIEWSKI. 87
Success shall show thee fairer, -- woe
Shall bid thy roots yet deeper grow.
Such are Sarmatia's prayers. Her prayers
Up to the heavens an angel bears ;
On vows no chance shall e'er repeal
Eternity has set her seal.
A THOUGHT.
(From Saphics. )
He has lived long and well whose death enforces
Tears from his neighbors, -- who has made his glory
Heir to himself, -- rapacious time will plunder
All, all -- besides it.
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? 88 POETS AND POETRY OF POLAND.
KONAKSKL*
Stanislaus Hieronim Konarski belongs to the
greatest practical philosophers of the age. It was he
who, having ascertained by his learning and compre-
hensive powers of the mind the vanity and absurdity
of the ways and manners of education and enlighten-
ment practiced in the period in which he lived, by his
writings scattered to the winds the darkness, reinstated
the freedom of thought, and presented to his country^
men fresher models than the old musty Latin works;
implanted into the minds of Polish youth new ideas
tending to moral improvement, and awakened the true
spirit of inquiry after learning. He struck the old
pedantism a heavy blow, introducing in its stead fresh-
ness and naturalness of expression and modern concep-
tions. His works written on the subject had a great in-
fluence on the reform of Polish literature, because they
not only treated on aesthetics but also on moral and
practical philosophy. The most prominent of these
are ' ' De Emendandis Vitiis" and ' ' Yolumina Legum. ' '
The first treats extensively of the defective style of
writing and oratory, but what is most curious and cred-
itable to him is that in order to have his criticism fall
gently upon the works of his predecessors and contem-
poraries, he very good humoredly criticised some of
his own works formerly written, and pointed out his
own defects with unsparing justice. In ' ' Yolumini de
Legum " he endeavored, with much zeal for the public
* Although not a poet was a man of eminent literary talents, and
having created a new epoch in Polish literature deserves an honored
place here.
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? KONARSKI. 89
good, to collect different statutes and scattered consti-
tutions into a settled code of laws. That successful
service to his country accomplished much good, and
was of itself enough to immortalize his name. In his
" Art of Correct Thinking. Without Which There Can-
not Be Correct Speaking. " where, in sensible and
judicious observations he straightens out the mind of
the Polish youth by numerous and well-selected ex-
amples, adducing also specimens of beautiful and per-
fect oratory. The especial merit of this work is that
it contains a great deal of useful matter necessary to
the Polish people of those days. It was the noble aim
of the author to put down prejudices, and lit the mind
for the reception of useful truths. The fourth work of
Konarski was " Of Successful ^Tay and Manner of Ad-
vising. " ^Ve can place that work among those produc-
tions of which the Polish nation has a right to be proud.
You can see in it a true citizen, whose heart burns with
love to his country, and earnestly engaged with the
welfare of his fellow- citizens. In writing this work tor
a people who were not as yet well versed in political
science, and promulgating certain truths contrary to the
common prejudices of the majority, he had to use vari-
ous methods to elucidate, explain, and adapt them to
the understanding of all. The fifth production of this
distinguished man was "Of Religion, of Honest Peo-
ple, and Against the Doctrines of Deism. " wherein the
author endeavors to convince his readers that without
religion morality cannot have solid foundation; hence,
good and virtuous intentions of a community are flimsy
and uncertain unless supported by religious convic-
tions.
Taking it as a whole Konarski" s writings show
genius. His correct views in the matter of presented
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? 90 POETS AND POETRY OF POLAND.
subjects; his lively imagination; broad and sensible
explanations, and above all his power of philosophical
reasoning, emanating from his profound knowledge of
the subjects upon which he treats, places him in the
highest ranks of Polish writers.
Konarski was born in 1700, and received his in-
itiatory education at the institution of the Order of
Piiars, which order he entered in the seventeenth year
of his age, and against the wishes of his powerful rela-
tives.
He was soon transferred thence to the College of
Warsaw as the professor of philosophy. In the year
1725, with the advice of his uncle Tar? o, the bishop of
Posen, he went to Italy, where, in the city of Rome,
he gave lectures on oratory and history. From Rome
he went to Paris, where he closely connected himself
by the ties of friendship with the celebrated Fontenelle,
the great philosopher, orator, and poet. After a lapse
of six years he returned to his country and became
professor of history in Cracow, then lie occupied the
same dignity at Rzeszo? w, and was made Provincial of
his order. In the year 1743 he established a boarding-
school for the youth of the nobles, or Collegium ~No-
bilium. He also established similar schools at Wilno
and Lemberg. At his Warsaw college he arranged the
building so that a part of it was appropriated exclu-
sively for dramatic representations, and dramatic plays
of the most celebrated tragic poets were there repre-
sented, especially the French: Corneille, Racine, and
Crebillon. Konarski had also a great influence in
putting down the liberum veto, receiving for the great
service the hate of second-class nobility.
In 1748 he again left his native land for other coun-
tries. He visited France and the most celebrated acad-
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? KOXAKSKI. 91
emies, and returning to Warsaw employed himself in
finishing his " Collegium," which was opened in 1754.
In 1719 Komorowski, the Primas, sent Konarski to
Rome in an important cause, which mission he fulfilled
with great credit to himself. He lived on terms of
friendship with the most distinguished men of his age,
and almost of all countries, who frequently sought his
advice. He was personally known to Pope Benedict
XIY, to August II and III, as also to Stanislaus Lesz-
czyn? ski, whom he accompanied to Lotaringia (Lorraine).
In France he had insured to him by Louis XY the in-
come of two abbacies. Ranks of dignity which were
frequently offered to him he would never accept; hence,
for the bishopric by Benedict XIY, as also for the
bishopric of Przemys? l by August II, and the same dig-
nity offered him by King Stanislaus Poniatowski, in
Livonia, he only returned thanks but would not accept
of them. The king wishing to honor Konarski for his
great labors ordered a medal to be struck in his honor,
with the inscription, Sapere Auso (To him who dared
to be wise). He died in 1773.
His work, " De Emendandis Vitiis" was published
in Warsaw in 1741; " Of the Art of Correct Think-
ings also in Warsaw in 1767; " The Best Mode in
Advising" in 1760, and " Of Religion " in 1769.
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? 92 POETS AND POETRY OF POLAND.
JSTAPOJSZEWICZ.
Adam Stanislaus Naruszewicz, although brought up
according to the old customs of the country, was never-
theless a quick learner of the new social and political
elements which began to permeate through the higher
and more advanced social circles in Poland; hence he
may be considered as the incarnation of two different
epochs. His writings, therefore, are the depositories
of two contending intervals. In them he boldly educts
the progressive principle, fearlessly attacking the
corruption of the age and handling without gloves the
pretentions of the nobility, indolence, extravagance,
and other national defects.
As a poet he represents two sides, diametrically
opposite to each other : -- one that of a panegyrist, the
other that of a satirist. He wrote odes, satires, fables,
and idyls, which in those times comprised about the
whole poetical cycle, which he considered as his own,
and which would serve him to pave the way to dis-
tinction and fame.
Although there is much of the poetic spirit in his
odes, yetas a whole, emanating from different circum-
stances, adverse to poetic inspiration and replete with
exaggerated flattery, they do not on that account pos-
sess much of poetical value. He had doubtless much
power and poetic ardor, and the spirit of his lyric
poetry could soar higher than any of his contempo-
raries. His lively and fiery imagination opened to him
a rich depository of bold and exalted thoughts; but
this life-giving ardor, this creativeness of imagination,
accompany the poet only when their incitement comes
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? NARUSZEWICZ. 93
from the deep feeling of truth, and when the theme
itself is worthy of poetic inspiration.
Many of his lyrics have only a semblance of decla-
mation, and a superficial luster takes place of emotion.
Their taste and style remind one of the compositions
of the sixteenth century. He speaks as a true lyrist
only when the theme is patriotic citizenship, and the
love of his country warms him up.
In his ]yric muse Naruszewicz constrains himself
to flights of fancy, and in his satires he cannot keep
away from exaggeration, though we may say that in his
satires he very properly points out national defects,
and white furnishing a great many progressive lessons,
he at the same time paints a faithful historical picture
of the blemishes of the existing social system. His
satire of "The Yoices of the Dead," as also " The
Return of the Senators," are written in an old, con-
strained style, full of ludicrous images. Naruszewicz
was very much addicted to the introduction of mytho-
logical personages, which he pours upon his readers
without stint. However, it was the failing of all the
poets of Stanislaus' Age, but Naruszewicz exceeds
them all.
In his satire "The Nobility " Naruszewicz strongly
upheld the privileges of birth ; indeed, he tried to build
a partisan wall between the two different classes which
was very distasteful even to his own kindred. In his
satire "The Folly" he represents a false devotee, or
we may say a downright hypocrite. "The Spoiled
Age " is a continual grumbling that things are not as
they should be. In his " Flattery " he ridiculed the
common national foible of court manners and the bad
influence they had on national literature. " The Lean
Litterateur " is another unique production, reminding
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? 94 POETS AND POETRY OF POLAND.
us of the sad epoch of superficiality when solid sciences
were not appreciated, and hence the true litterateur was
always lean and poor, and as a characteristic type it
went into a proverb.
As to idyllic compositions Naruszewicz had no great
talent. Accustomed to court life and a great friend to
a fashionable world, he could not understand nor ap-
preciate the charms of rural life; indeed, his pastorals
"The Farm-house," "The Happy Marriage," and
"Narcissus," have more of a satirical than of a pas-
toral turn. However, his Polish is pure and correct,
and in his power, freshness, and poetical imagery, he
is superior to Krasicki. Indeed, we find in his satires
many beautiful expressions, -- new and pleasing turns
with which he truly enriched the Polish literature.
Naruszewicz was born in 1733, receiving first rudi-
ments of education at Pin? sk. In 1748 he joined the
order of the Jesuits, which sent him to Lugdun. Re-
ceiving assistance from Prince Czartoryiski he per-
fected himself in learning in France, Italy, and Ger-
many. Returning to his own country he received the
professorship of the Cathedra of Poetry in the Academy
of Wilno, and subsequently of Warsaw. He was so
liked by the king, Stanislaus Augustus, that after the
abolition of the order he resided with him. After
receiving the abbacy of Niemencz? yn he was admitted
to the coadjutorship of the bishopric of Smolen? sk.
He afterward held the office of the Clerk of the Grand
Duchy of Lithuania; finally he was made a bishop.
Stanislaus Augustus honored him with a decoration,
and ordered a medal struck with visages of Sarbiewski
and Naruszewicz. He died in 1796 at Janowce.
His works were published in Warsaw in 1778-1803,
and at Leipzig in 1835. Naruszewicz's biography was
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-06-10 17:12 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/loc. ark:/13960/t04x6gz3d Public Domain / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd
? NARUSZEWICZ. 95
written by Julian Bartoszewicz in his work u Cele-
brated Men of Poland of the Eighteenth Century,"
published in St.
