Stare i nowe - dwa nieznane wiersze „na zegary”

Abstract

The representations of clocks belong to the vanitas theme, omnipresent in Baroque. Having conducted an outline of various clock representations typical of the aforementioned epoque, be it sundials, hourglasses or mechanical clocks, this text analyses two poetic ekphrases preserved in the manuscript found in Jagiellonian Library, item no. 2568 (Stanisław Rakowski’s silva rerum). The comparative reading of their rhetorical modes confirms the general observation, according to which the mechanical clocks attracted special attention in Baroque. This article includes an appendix containing both poems: “Zegar bijący” [“A Striking Clock”] and “Zegar ciekący” [“A Flowing Clock”].