Zmysły w Sonetach krymskich Adama Mickiewicza

Abstract

The paper analyses the sphere of Adam Mickiewicz’s sensual sensibility in the Crimean Sonnets (1826), which were written after the journey of the greatest Polish Romantic poet to the Crimea in 1825. The poet began exercising his sensibility during his Vilnius period, as revealed in the sensual Ballads and Romances (1822). The poetic design of revising the use of the senses involved supplementing the sense of sight with a spiritual spectrum. Following Shakespeare, Mickiewicz advocates looking from the depth of one’s inner self into the depth beyond. He emphasises this by choosing the motto for his first cycle of poems. However, the eyes must not be limited to shapes, colours, but should go beyond these superficial features, penetrating the nature of things, revealing further dimensions and ultimately the mystery of the essence of being. In the Crimean Sonnets, colours appear rarely and there are surprisingly few of them. The poet’s artistic restraint in this regard is a telling sign. This does not mean that the poetic cycle is devoid of colours. They do appear. Nevertheless, white and flashes of light, shadows and darkness dominate the poetic landscape. In addition, the characters often close their eyes, their eyelids droop, they look away. The disappearance of images and even figures that sink or simply dissolve into the surrounding landscape is also characteristic. Another poetic device, is the excessive urging of the readers to sharpen their senses of sight and hearing. The narrator repeatedly makes the reader look, glance, listen, and also complains about those who fail to do that. The poet introduces such devices into the narrative to emphasise the role of the senses, which are often unable to adequately convey either the beauty of the land or the grandeur of the people who inhabit it. The Romantic poet consciously creates a harsh and barren world that requires an effort of imagination. However, he frees the readers from such effort in Pan Tadeusz (1834), where he stimulates the senses of smell and touch when describing coffee, flowers, aunt Telimena and the taste and smell of Polish bigos.