Strumienie, drzewa, nimfy… – Jan Kochanowski w Zamchu. Dryas zamechska i Pan Zamchanus w świetle geografii historycznej i kartografii krytycznej

Abstract

Autor dowodzi, że Jan Kochanowski przebywał w Zamchu (na granicy Puszczy Solskiej w pobliżu Roztocza Środkowego) na początku maja 1578 r., gdzie przed królem Stefanem Batorym wystawiono w formie tryumfu (trionfi) dwie eklogi gratulacyjne: Dryas Zamchana i Pan Zamchanus. Świadczy o tym zawarta w utworach bardzo dobra znajomość toponimów, fitonimów (jeden z nich ‘modrzew’ to hapax legomenon w słowniku poety) i małych rzek z okolic Zamchu. Wyznaczają one zachodnie, północne i południowe koordynaty wsi. W sielankowym dyptyku Kochanowski ustami mitologicznych postaci snuje pochwałę Puszczy Solskiej i rycerskiego króla, który przybył tu na łowy oraz, za pomocą aluzji, propaguje plany Batorego i kanclerza Jana Zamoyskiego dotyczące przyszłorocznej kampanii wojennej z Moskwą.

Jan Kochanowski’s works published in 1578, Dryas zamechska (in Latin and Polish versions) and the Latin Pan Zamchanus, which make up the Zamch diptych, are a very interesting attempt at literary cartography of a small area – the southern regions of the Solska Forest and Central Roztocze, which at that time constituted the Zamch starosty. These works are congratulatory eclogues, maintained in an idyllic convention; most likely they were used to stage a “triumph” in Zamch, a paradramatic performance in the style of Italian trionfi. The hunting Arcadia – the site of king Stephen Báthory’s triumph and subsequent hunting trip on 8 and 9 May 1578 – consists of a detailed descriptive account of the surroundings of Zamch and the presence of mythological beings: hamadriads, Pan, satyrs, and fauns. Fluvial chorography, toponymy, and phytonymy (names of trees from around the village) were used by the poet to describe Arcadia. Following an analysis of the works using the methods of historical geography and critical cartography, it can be concluded that Kochanowski created this literary map from his own experience. This is evidenced by the planned (directions north-south; south-north, west) placement of even small rivers (Tanew, Sopot, Szum, Wirowa), villages (Łukowa, Obsza, Zamch) and the use of names of trees found both in literary tradition and growing in the Solska Forest and Central Roztocze. A concession to realism is the inclusion of larch (this phytonym is hapax legomenon in Kochanowski’s dictionary) and hornbeam, which do not connote symbolic meanings. The poet’s aim was not only to praise the Solska Forest and the valiant king, who cultivated chivalrous customs, but also to publicize king Stephen Báthory’s military policy. Wider issues are revealed in the micro scale of Zamch and its surroundings – the king’s future war with Moscow over Polotsk and Livonia. However, the allusive political senses expressed in the literary hunting Arcadia are not sufficiently justified by the cartographic organization of the text; the failure to mark the eastern borders of the Zamch starosty on the literary map of the diptych is presumably due to the poet’s lack of knowledge on the subject.