„Jeśli wieczność – niestety…” Studia i szkice o modernistach

Abstract

The first chapter of the monograph discusses the presence of irony in the works of Stanisław Ludwik Liciński (1874–1908). The writer used the poetics of irony consciously. The author of the book focuses on selected works of the writer, which are dominated by irony or where the irony performs an important aesthetic function. The main space is dedicated to the longest work created by the writer, "Ksiądz Jan Jaskólski" [Priest Jan Jaskólski] (published in 1908). Andrzej Niemojewski (1864–1921) had spoken on the issues of esotericism and occultism as well as spiritism and mediumism, which were in fashion in the Modernist era. He discussed the subject repeatedly in his works for years. What is particularly interesting are the views of the writer on theosophy and the creator of anthroposophy – Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925), to whom he had a critical approach. In Chapter 2, the author reminds the readers of a little-known text by Niemojewski, entitled "Myśli ezoteryczne" [Esoteric Thoughts] (1917) and analyses it. In the third chapter, the author analyses the Moon Trilogy by Jerzy Żuławski (1874–1915) in terms of the anti-urbanisationmotifs that appear in the work. In the Trilogy, the city is a habitat of low instincts and mass culture that makes individualism extinct. One may save oneself by escaping into nature: To the mountains, or choose solitary life in the Far East, away from the hustle and bustle of European civilisation. In the fourth chapter, the author focused on the poem by Jerzy Żuławski, entitled W prosektorium [In the Mortuary] (written approx. in 1894). Its author expressed philosophically justified pessimism and he questioned the existence beyond earthly life. In order to “throw some light on” and compare the motifs of silence and human decay in the poem by Żuławski, the author chose one of the intriguing and still mysterious poems by the Romantic poet Juliusz Słowacki (1809–1849), entitled "Córka Cerery" [The Daughter of Cerera] of 1847. In the fifth, reconnaissance chapter entitled "Ananke w poezji Młodej Polski" [Ananke in the Poetry of Young Poland], the author searches for traces of the goddess of destiny. He discovers her presence in the poems by four authors: Antoni Lange (1862–1929), Jerzy Żuławski, Kazimiera Zawistowska (1870–1902), and Tadeusz Miciński (1873–1918). The realisations of the Ananke motif reveal a thread of mutual inspiration (Lange – Żuławski – Zawistowska) or polemics (Żuławski – Miciński). Although Ananke is not overly represented in the poems of the writers of the era, her presence is clearly noticeable. The sixth chapter discusses the influence of literature, in particular poetry, on heavy metal music, in particular the author discovers some relationships between literary works and the lyrics of songs. The main inspiration proved to be the poetry from the Young Poland period, in particular the works of Tadeusz Miciński. The author presents the line of poetic influence of Miciński, which was rooted and promoted in heavy metal musicby the leader of the band Kat & Roman Kostrzewski (the former frontman of the Kat band), and then by Adam Nergal Darski (Behemoth). The seventh chapter discusses the topic of the reception of Tadeusz Miciński’s poetry in the circles of performers (authors of lyrics) from heavy metal bands (in particular the black metal genre). The context for these reflections is the popularity of the poet among heavy metal fans. The author attempts to answer the question about the reasons for the popularity of Miciński (and other Young Poland poets) in the heavy metal genre, which was triumphant in the last decades of the 20th century. In the eighth chapter, the author tracked the “Black Sea” and “Odessa” motifs in the works of Miciński, who is associated with the city of Odessa due to his drama "Kniaź Patiomkin" [Prince Potemkin] (1906) that is set during the mutiny of the sailors on the Russian battleship.In the ninth chapter, the author joins the debate on the relationship between the philosopher Wincenty Lutosławski (1863–1954) and the poet and writer Tadeusz Miciński, which has been going on for over half a century. The relationship between the writers started from that between a master and a student, through kind, and later coarse friendship, correspondence full of accusations, mutual lecturing, and finally loosening the bond to the level of an old acquaintanceship, occasionally maintained by an exchange of letters. In the tenth chapter, the author juxtaposes the personalities and works of two Modernist poets: The Polish poet Tadeusz Miciński and the Bulgarian poet Pencho Slaveykov (1866–1912). The artists met in Leipzig at the turn of the years 1895/1896. After many years, when Miciński was staying in the Balkans (1913) working as a war reporter, he devoted several articles to Bulgariaand, separately, to Slaveykow ("Poeta Bałkanów" [The Poet of the Balkans]). The final, eleventh chapter focuses on the bestiary of Miciński and his poetry of the years 1914–1918. Animals and animal metaphors are present in all his works. The author of the monograph attempts to present the similarities and differences in the use of linguistic approaches to animals between the pre-war period and the period of World War I.