Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/215

* POLISH LITEEATTJBE. 179 POLISH LITERATTJKE. artistic style. (bj Didaviii:. Sermons, though delivered in Polish, were written in Latin, to give them a wider circulation abroad. They con- tain much anecdotic material, important for the history of literature, as well as accounts of cur- rent superstitions and ethical instruction valuable for the history of Polish morals, (e) Poetic. These are very few ; urost of the extant manuscripts contain mediaeval translations of the classics. Of the Polish poems preserved in Gallus, Wik- enty, and Dlugosz, many are poetic in spirit and feeliuf,', though crude in form. Of these the ear- liest and most remarkable specimen is the famous battle hymn to the Virgin { Botiiirodzicii), as- cribed by tradition to Saint Wojciech of the tenth century. Other specimens are: the Psalter of Queen Marf/aret, in a manuscript of the four- teenth century, also known as the Florian Psnltcr; a prayer-book of the year 1375; a Polish translation of the fiftieth Psalm; the Gnesen sermons ; the Bible written for Queen Sophia. Some Polish statutes and religious hymns belong to the fifteenth century. During this period humanistic ideas gained ground. The number of schools increased rapidly to satisfy the great demand for study among the laity. The contest between scholastics and hu- manists, raging in other parts of Europe, was carried on also in Poland. Andrzej Halka's Eulogy of Wiclif proves that literature was be- coming a means of religious propaganda. In the sixteenth century the Polish language was gradually superseding Latin. The fir^ book in Polish was printed in 1521 {The Discourse of King 'Solomon), and this is commonly taken as the beginning of the new 'golden' period of Po- lish literature. A Protestant translation of the Bible appeared at Brze^(5 (Brest-Litovsk) in l.')53. The gieat names of this period are: Jlikolaj Eej of Xaglowice (1505-69), who gives in his poems vivid pictures of contemporary man- ners, typical studies in character and graphic de- scriptions of scenery. Jan Kochanowski (q.v.) (1530-84) is best known by his Psalms. His La- ments (on the death of his daughter Ursula) are characterized by depth and sincerity of feeling, and perfection of form. His -Jests are rol- licking with fun or bitter with satire. His dramatic effort {Departure of the Greek Eiv- voys) was the pioneer in Polish drama. The names most closely allied with his are those of Szarzynski, Grocliowski, Peter Kochanowski, Szj'monowiez, and Sebastian Klonowicz ( 1545- 1602), a keen satirist, but not a poet, and Stan- islas Orzechowski (1573-66). who ])erfected the Polish language in his publicist writings. The only poet of merit that the seventeenth century produced was JIaciej Ivazimierz Sar- biewski (1595-1640), a writer of Latin poems. The exhaustion of the poetic vein brought about the so-called 'macaronic period' of Polish litera- ture. The only valuable achievements were the increasing number of translations of European poets. A theatre was established by Ladislas IV., where English, French, and Italian actors appeared. There had been native mysteries, such as Rej's .Joseph. All of them were vcri' poor, the best being those of Andrzej Morsztyn. but even he was more an imitator of French and Italian models than a creative poet; his translations of Corneille's Pid and Tassn's pastoral drama Amin- ta, however, were excellent. Waclaw Potocki'a The War of Khotin, discovered in manuscript in 1850, is a powerful realistic poem, more striking when contrasted with the general barrenness of the period. The first half of the eighteenth century served to emphasize the dangers arising from in- ternal disorders. Martin Matuszewski (1714- 65) gave vivid pictures of the moral de])ravity of the times. Warning voices were heard against the licentiousness of the nobility (Karwicki) and the libcrum veto (Konarski). Period of Feesch Pseudo-Classicism (1750- 1822). The weak King Stanislas Poniatowski was a man of high culture and strong aeesthetic leanings. A philosophical reaction succeeded Catholicism, and French ideas triumphed. The consciousness of social evils prompted the writers to expose them in satire and fable, while virtuos- ity of fonn was the chief object in this an.xiety to imitate the French models. Trembecki ( 1723- 1812), Wegerski, and Krasicki (1735-1801) armed themselves against the reigning inertia, 'barbarous' prejudices, and foolish imitation of foreign manners. Xaruszewicz fell below these three in poetic gifts, but, being an historian, sur- passed them in the breadth of his views; his satire was more bitter, he felt more keenly the demoralization of society. Though Pseudo-Classi- cists, these writers did a great service by connect- ing literature with life, and their works were veiy popular. Comedy flourished, and the first political comedy in Polish, The Envoy's lie turn, by Xiemcewicz, enjoyed gieat success. The great- est name in Pseudo-Classical drama is that of Alexander Fredro (1793-1876), who wrote much later, but really belonged to this period. His plays are among the gems of the Polish stage, owing to the beauty and purity of the language, the genuine wit, the live types, and the unflag- ging interest of the action. Along with this satirical current the sentimentalist movement found strong representatives in Krasicki, Kar- pirtski, and Kniafnin, the first being especially popular. The final partition of Poland (1795) brought a wave of patriotism. Hence the suc- cess of Xiemcewicz's Historical Ballads (1816). Dramas cropped up in answer to the same de- mand for and interest in everything historical. RoMAXTicissi (1822-62). Romanticism, which placed feeling above reason, answered the condi- tion of Poland. The Ode to Youth of iliekie- wicz struck a responsive chord in the hearts of his countrvmen. From such feelings proceeded the love for the miraculous (destined to dev(dop into mysticism a little later) and national folk- lore abounding in it. The educational reforms of Czacki and Czartoryski brought nuire learning; the poets sought recognition from their people as a whole, and not from patrons. The lyceum at Krzemieniec, with its inspired historian Lelewel poetically reproducing the ancient times, turned out a score of students who became the dissemi- nators of Romanticism in their poetical and criti- cal works, all of which aimed at creating a na- tional poetry. Among the various factors in this literary movement the so-called Ukrainian (Little Russian) school was the most prominent. Among its representatives JIalczewski (1793- 1826) was the bard of the nobility; Zaleski (1802-86) glorified free Cossackdom; Goszczynski (1803-76) sang with epic simplicity the customs and beliefs of the Haidamaks. Zaleski's poems appearing in 1822 passed unnoticed. .•V few months later another collection of poems ap-