Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 19.djvu/316

Rh 304 performed in churches ; but, Pope Innocent III. finding fault with this arrangement, the acting was transferred to churchyards. Mention has already been made of plays written by Rej and Kochanowski ; they are mere fruits of the Renaissance, and cannot in any way be considered national. The wife of John Casimir, a Frenchwoman, Marie Louise, hired a troop of French actors and first familiarized the Poles with something which resembled the modern stage. The Princess Franciszka Radziwitt com posed plays which were acted at her private residence, but they are spoken of as inartistic and long and tedious. The national theatre was really founded in the reign of Stanislaus Augustus ; and good plays were produced by Bohomolec, Kamiriski, Kropinski, Boguslawski, Zablocki, and others. Perhaps, however, with the exception of the works of Fredro, the Poles have not produced anything of much merit in this line. A great statesman and writer of the later days of Polish nationality was Koltataj, born at Sandomir in 1750. He was a man of liberal sentiments, and, had his plans been carried out, Poland might have been saved. He wished to abolish serfdom and throw open state employments to all. The nobility, however, were too infatuated to be willing to adopt these wise measures. Like the French aristocrats with the reforms of Necker, they would not listen till ruin had overtaken them. During the last war of Poland as an independent country Koltataj betook himself to the camp of Kosciuszko, but when he saw that there was no longer hope he went to Galicia, but was captured by the Austrians and imprisoned at Olmu tz till 1803. He died in 1812. An active co-operator with Koltataj was Salesius Jezierski, who founded clubs for the discussion of political questions, and Stanislaus Staszic, who did much for education and improved the condition of the university of Warsaw. Roman- The reputation of all preceding poets in Poland was ticism. now destined to be thrown into the shade by the appear ance of Mickiewicz (1798-1855), the great introducer of romanticism into the country (see MICKIEWICZ). Poland, as has been said before, is not rich in national songs and legendary poetry, in which respect it cannot compare with its sister Slavonic countries Russia and Servia. Collec tions have appeared, however, by Wactaw Zaleski, who writes under the pseudonyms of Wactaw z Oleska, Wojcicki, Roger, Zegota Pauli, and especially Oskar Kolberg. Poland and Lithuania, however, abounded with supersti tions and legends which only awaited the coming poet to put them into verse. In the year 1851 Romuald Ziefikie- wicz published Songs of the People of Pinsk, and collections have even appeared of those of the Kashoubes, a remnant of the Poles living near Dantzic. Mickiewicz had had a predecessor, but of far less talent, Casimir Brodzinski (1791-1835). He served under Napoleon in the Polish legion, and has left a small collection of poems, the most important being the idyl Wiesiaw, in which the manners of the peasants of the district of Cracow are faithfully portrayed. The second great poet of the romantic school who appeared in Poland after Mickiewicz was Julius Stov/acki (1809-1849), born at Krzemieniec. In 1831 he left his native country and chose Paris as his residence, where he died. His writings are full of the fire of youth, and show great beauty and elegance of expression. We can trace in them the influence of Byron and Victor Hugo. He is justly considered one of the greatest of the modern poets of Poland. His most celebrated pieces are Hugo ; Mnich (&quot;The Monk&quot;); Lambro, a Greek corsair, quite in the style of Byron; AnMli, a very Dantesque poem express ing under the form of an allegory the sufferings of Poland ; Krol Duck (&quot; The Spirit King &quot;), another mysterious and allegorical poem ; Wadaiv, on the same subject as the Marya of Malczewski, to be afterwards noticed ; IkniwvskL a Ion&quot; 3 O [LITERATURE. poem in ottava rima on this strange adventurer, something in the style of Byron s humorous poems ; Kordyan, of the same school as the English poet s Manfred; Lilla Weneda, a poem dealing with the early period of Slavonic history. The life of Stowacki has been published by Professor Anton Matecki in two volumes. Mickiewicz and Stowacki were both more or less mystics, but even more we may assign this characteristic to Sigis- mund Krasiiiski, who was born in 1812 at Paris, and died there in 1859. It would be impossible to analyse here his extraordinary poem Nieloska Komedja (&quot; The Undivine Comedy&quot;), Irydion, and others. In them Poland, veiled under different allegories, is always the central figure. They are powerful poems written with great vigour of language, but enveloped in clouds of mysticism. The life of Krasiiiski was embittered by the fact that he was the son of General Vincent Krasiiiski who had become unpopular among the Poles by his ad herence to the Russian Government ; the son wrote anony mously in consequence, and was therefore called &quot; The Unknown Poet.&quot; Among his latest productions are his &quot;Psalms of the Future&quot; (Psalmy Przysdosci), which were attacked by the democratic party as a defence of aristo cratic views which had already ruined Poland. His friend Siowacki answered them in some taunting verses, and this led to a quarrel between the poets. One of the most striking pieces of Krasiiiski has the title &quot;Resurrecturis.&quot; The sorrows of his country and his own physical sufferings have communicated a melancholy tone to the writings of Krasiiiski, which read like a dirge, or as if the poet stood always by an open grave and the grave is that of Poland. He must be considered as, next to Mickiewicz, the greatest poet of the country. Other poets of the romantic school of considerable merit were Gorecki, Witwicki, Odyniec, and Gaszynski ; the last-named wrote many exquisite sonnets, which ought alone to embalm his name. Wit- wicki (1800-1847) was son of a professor at Krzemieniec. He was a writer of ballads and poems dealing with rural life, which enjoyed great popularity among his country men and had the good fortune to be set to music by Chopin. The historical works of Lelewel have already .had separate mention (see LELEWEL) ; but here may be specified the labours of Narbutt, Dzieje Starozytne Narodu Liteivskiego (&quot;Early History of the Lithuanian People&quot;), published at Vilna in nine volumes, and the valuable Monumental, Polonise, Historica, edited at Lemberg by Bielowski, of which four volumes have appeared, con taining reprints of most of the early chroniclers. Bie lowski died in 1876. A further development of romanticism was the so-called Ukraine Ukraine school of poets, such as Malczewski, Goszczynski, scll - and Zaleski. Anton Malczewski (1793-1826), who died at the early age of thirty-three, wrote one poem, Marya, which passed unnoticed at the time of its publication, but after its author s death became very popular. Malczewski led a wandering life and became intimate with Byron at Venice ; he is said to have suggested to the latter the story of Mazeppa. Marya is a narrative in verse, written with much feeling and elegance, and in a most harmonious metre. The chief poem of Goszczynski is Zamek Kaniowski (&quot;The Tower of Kanioff&quot;). The most interesting poem of Bogdan Zaleski is his &quot; Spirit of the Steppe &quot; (Duch od Stepu). Other poets of the so-called Ukraine school, which has been so well inspired by the romantic legends of that part of Russia, are Thomas or Timko Padoura (who also wrote in the Malo-Russian, or Little-Russian, language), Alexander Groza, and Thomas Olizarowski. For many of the original songs and legends we must turn to the work of Messrs Antonovich and Dragomanoff. Bogdan Joseph Zaleski was born in 1802 in the Ukraine village, Boha-