Przyboś czyta Norwida

Abstract

The author analyses the interpretations of Cyprian Kamil Norwid’s poems (Trzy strofki, Italiam! Italiam!, Krzyż i dziecko) presented by Julian Przyboś in his sketch Próba Norwida (An Attempt at Norwid). The title Przyboś reads Norwid focuses attention on the act of reading, a detailed account of which is given by the avant‑garde poet who concurrently proposes his own interpretative adjudications and passes sentences regarding artistic values of the discussed works. Therefore, in Próba Norwida Przyboś reveals himself not only as a reading poet, but also as a poetry critic. In his interpretations he refers to observations by the previous interpreters and editors of the works by Norwid: Tadeusz Pini and Juliusz Wiktor Gomulicki, and quotes the epithets coined by scholars that function as ossified phrases (Norwid – the poet of history, Norwid – the poet of ruins, etc.). Against such a background Przyboś tries to build an original image of Norwid the poet and revise the previous beliefs regarding “darkness” and “incomprehensiveness” of the poet’s works. Contrary to unambiguously positive reactions of Przyboś to poetry by Mickiewicz or Słowacki, his attitude towards Norwid’s works, which is many times emphasized by Przyboś himself, regardless of his repetitive readings – remains ambiguous. The reasons behind those, inexplicable for Przyboś, contradictions that vibrantly manifest themselves in reception of various Norwid’s poems, can be probably traced back in the theory of poetry (especially – the concept of lyrical cognition) constructed by the author of Sponad (From Over), as well as in the transformations taking place as a part of Polish modernist movement. Przyboś himself indicates the areas of possible (yet ostensible) similarities between the modern poetics and the means of artistic expression frequently used by Norwid (concealments, “minimum words – maximum content”) and many of his poems’ formal shape. Przyboś interprets Trzy strofki (Three Short Stanzas) as one of rare love poems in the Norwid’s oeuvre, and at the same time, as autobiographical poem devoted to the poet’s love for Maria Kalergis. What seems for Przyboś particularly well done, especially juxtaposed with the similar productions of twentieth‑century poets (Maria Pawlikowska‑Jasnorzewska and Jan Lechoń) is the comparison of tears to pearls buried in the ocean. Italiam! Italiam! is, on the other hand, read by Przyboś as openly autobiographical poem, pertained to Norwid’s travels and stay in Italy. At the same time, put against a background of Romantic memoir poetry (Mickiewicz, Goethe), Italiam! Italiam! seems to him also as an incredibly inventive poem. He appreciates its tonal advantages, as well as the poem’s “musicality”. The piece Krzyż i dziecko (The Cross and a Child) is examined with reference to imagined situation from the poet’s biography, i.e. probably watching ships swimming in the Seine. Ideological meaning of the poem is by Przyboś connected to, very prominent in Norwid’s oeuvre, Christian faith. The critic also mentions more personal associations with the painting by Eugène Delacroix (The Barque of Dante) that are triggered by the reading of the poem. Second part of the work is devoted to, broadly understood, references to the Norwid’s pieces conspicuous in the late poetry by Przyboś. The subject of the author’s analysis is most of all the poem Całość słowa (A Whole Word) with an epigraph taken from Norwid, in which the author focuses on the issue of a subject, naming, relation of a word to a thing. What appears equally important is the mimesis and feasibilities, restrictions and the mode of language reality existing, particular case of which is poetry. The analyses of Przyboś’s interpretative propositions and adjudications performed by the author seem important for another reason: until now many researchers of Norwid’s works treat An Attempt at Norwid as a portable source of quotations to build their own line of argumentation. Analyses, interpretations and re‑interpretations presented by the author are one of the ways of searching and reading the presence of Norwid in the literature of the twentieth century, and can serve as inspiration for subsequent research.