Juliusz S�owacki
- ️Marek Adamiec
Poeta, dramatopisarz, epistolograf, tw�rca filozofii genezyjskiej. Zaliczany do grona tak zwanych "trzech wieszcz�w romantycznych" (wraz z Adamem Mickiewiczem i Zygmuntem Krasi�skim). W jego r�norodnej tematycznie i gatunkowo tw�rczo�ci romantyzm polski osi�gn�� swe apogeum.
Urodzi� si� w Krzemie�cu na Wo�yniu, wzrasta� i studiowa� w Wilnie. Wcze�nie osierocony przez ojca - literata, nauczyciela wymowy w Gimnazjum Krzemienieckim, profesora literatury Uniwersytetu Wile�skiego - pozostawa� pod wp�ywem matki, p�niejszej adresatki najcenniejszego bloku list�w do niej pisanych. Jej sentymentalna wra�liwo�� nie pozosta�a bez wp�ywu na najwcze�niejsz� tw�rczo�� syna: przek�ady z Alphonse`a de Lamartine`a i z Thomasa Moore`a (
Melodie irlandzkie) oraz w�asne w sentymentalnym stylu pisane wiersze. S�owacki wychowany w �rodowisku elity inteligenckiej i intelektualnej by� ogromnie przywi�zany do szlacheckiej genealogii swej rodziny, czemu wielokrotnie dawa� wyraz w tw�rczo�ci.Na pocz�tku 1829 roku wyjecha� do Warszawy, gdzie pracowa� jako aplikant w Komisji Rz�dowej Przychod�w i Skarbu. Jako jedyny z wielkich poet�w romantycznych by� przez pewien czas obserwatorem powstania listopadowego. Napisa� trzy patriotyczne wiersze zagrzewaj�ce do boju, dzi�ki kt�rym na kr�tko zyska� popularno��. Jeszcze w czasie powstania wyjecha� z misj� dyplomatyczn� do Londynu, po jej wype�nieniu osiedli� si� w Pary�u. Tutaj, w 1832 roku, wyda� dwutomowy zbi�r m�odzie�czych utwor�w z okresu warszawskiego (Poezje). Daleko odszed� w nich od sentymentalnych stylizacji w stron� byronicznej powie�ci poetyckiej (m. in.
Hugo, Jan Bielecki, Mnich, Arab) oraz ku nawi�zuj�cym do Szekspira dramatom (Mindowe, Maria Stuart). W utworach z warszawskiego okresu pokazywa� �wiat prze�y� wybitnych jednostek: sk��cenie ze �wiatem i zamkni�cie w kr�gu problem�w w�asnego wn�trza, problematyk� zemst�, zdrady, wyst�pku - romantycznego „b�lu istnienia”.Niech�� paryskiego �rodowiska emigracji polistopadowej - wywo�ana publikacj�
Poezji - na wiele lat negatywnie okre�li�a odbi�r tw�rczo�ci S�owackiego. Po upadku powstania listopadowego nie do zaakceptowania okaza� si� proponowany przez poet� indywidualistyczny model romantyzmu. Nie S�owacki, lecz Mickiewicz, z wydan� w tym samym 1832 roku Dziad�w cz�ci� III, trafia� w horyzont oczekiwa� wychod�c�w, �yj�cych problemami powsta�czej kl�ski i emigracyjnego losu. Krytykowany i osamotniony S�owacki kr�tko po wydaniu Poezji wyje�d�a do Genewy, zapocz�tkowuj�c tym wyjazdem kilkuletni okres podr�y do: Rzymu i Neapolu, Grecji, Egiptu, Palestyny (1836 - 1837). Dopiero z ko�cem 1838 roku powr�ci przez Florencj� do Pary�a, by pozosta� tu ju� do ko�ca �ycia.W czasie pobytu w Szwajcarii pisze poeta wielkie dramaty romantyczne, w kt�rych dominuj� refleksje nad histori� oraz aktualn� sytuacj� polityczn�. Nale�y do nich przede wszystkim
Kordian (1834) jako pr�ba zrozumienia w�asnej generacji oraz przyczyn upadku powstania. Problematyka patriotyczna i narodowa splata si� w nim z egzystencjaln� problematyk� „dzieci�cia wieku”, najwyra�niej artyku�owan� w Ren� m Chateaubrianda (1802) i, p�niejszej od dramatu S�owackiego, Spowiedzi dzieci�cia wieku Musseta (1836). W okresie szwajcarskim powstaj� jeszcze dwa dramaty: Horszty�ski (1835, niepubl.), bliski Kordianowi tematyk� egzystencjaln� i Balladyna (1834, wyd. 1839), ba�� polityczna na temat w�adzy osnuta na legendarnych dziejach narodu (pos�uguj�ca si� wielorakimi ironiczno-tragicznymi szekspirowskimi aluzjami). Szekspir by� dla S�owackiego: znawc� serc ludzkich, malarzem nami�tno�ci, demaskatorem natury ludzkiej, szekspiryzm stanowi� spos�b poznania z�a historycznego. W li�cie do matki (1834) poeta pisa�: „Szekspir i Dante s� teraz moimi kochankami - i ju� tak jest od dw�ch lat”.Pi�kno alpejskiej przyrody (wycieczka w Alpy Berne�skie, d�u�szy pobyt nad Lemanem), rodz�ce si� uczucie mi�o�ci do Marii Wodzi�skiej, panny z arystokratycznego domu, staj� si� inspiracj� wielu liryk�w tego okresu. Poezj�, proz� poetyck� i literacko kszta�towan� epistolografi� owocuje te� podr� na Wsch�d. Jest to podr� nie tylko w przestrzeni egzotycznej dla poety natury, ale tak�e wyprawa w czasie: ku bohaterom walcz�cej o wolno�� Grecji (Gr�b Agamemnona), ku dawnym w�adcom Egiptu (
Rozmowa z piramidami), w stron� Chrystusa i Nowego Testamentu (Podr�� do Ziemi �wi�tej z Neapolu). Podr� ta u�wiadamia�a poecie przemijanie i krucho�� ludzkiego �ycia (Hymn. Smutno mi Bo�e), budzi�a refleksje na temat podobie�stw los�w r�nych narod�w, utwierdza�a w typowym dla polskich romantycznych emigrant�w przekonaniu o skazaniu ich przez los na wieczn� tu�aczk� i niemo�no�� powrotu do kraju. Pojawiaj� si� teraz utwory b�d�ce pesymistycznymi prognozami na przysz�o��: stylizowany na biblijn� przypowie�� Anhelli (1838) o sybirskim losie Polak�w, por�wnywana ze sztukami Victora Hugo Lilla Weneda (1840), dramat o inspiracjach antyczno-szekspirowskich, z tragiczn� wizj� narodu w centrum (wraz z Lill� Wened� wydany zosta� Gr�b Agamemnona zapowiadaj�cy konieczno�� przeobra�enia narodu, aby m�g� on odzyska� wolno��). W utworach tych pojawiaj� si� ju� sygna�y nowej postawy wobec �ycia i historii, postawy, kt�ra stanie si� wy��czn� w latach czterdziestych.Za utw�r graniczny uzna� nale�y pisany oktaw� poemat dygresyjny
Beniowski (1841): ariostyczny w zmienno�ci ton�w, byronowski w gatunku - bliski formalnie Don Juanowi angielskiego mistrza i Eugieniuszowi Onieginowi Aleksandra Puszkina. Beniowski stanowi szczyt, a zarazem kres romantycznego indywidualizmu w tw�rczo�ci S�owackiego, przezwyci�enie byronowskiego typu bohatera, zafascynowanego w�asn� samotno�ci�. Poeta og�asza w nim wej�cie na now� drog� tw�rczo�ci, dla ktorej w zakresie dramatu tradycj� najbli�sz� stanie si� tw�rczo�� Calderona, kt�rego Ksi�cia Niez�omnego przek�ada S�owacki w 1844 roku. Poeta okre�la siebie teraz jako przewodnika narodu w czekaj�cej nar�d koniecznej wielkiej przemianie.Katalizatorem tej dojrzewaj�cej wcze�niej zmiany staje si� znajomo�� z mistykiem Andrzejem Towia�skim i przyst�pienie (na kr�tko) do za�o�onego przez niego Ko�a Sprawy Bo�ej, skupiaj�cego znaczn� cz�� emigracji z Mickiewiczem na czele. Za najwy�sze warto�ci uznaje teraz S�owacki: prostot�, pokor�, ofiar� (wiersz programowy:
Tak mi Bo�e dopom� 1842), za zadanie: tworzenie siebie doskonalszego, by godnie i m�drze wspomaga� nar�d. Poprzez wybitne mistyczne dramaty: Ksi�dz Marek (1843), Sen srebrny Salomei (1844), w kt�rych historiozofii pojawia si� idea zniszczenia i �mierci dla post�pu, dochodzi do wykrystalizowania oryginalnego systemu my�lowego zwanego przez poet� filozofi� genezyjsk�. Zostaje on wy�o�ony przez S�owackiego w poetyckim traktacie Genezis z Ducha (1844 - 1846), kt�ry jest jego wersj� biblijnej Ksi�gi Rodzaju.Poeta umiera na gru�lic� i zostaje pochowany na cmentarzu Montmartre. W 1927 roku jego prochy przewieziono do kraju i z�o�ono obok Mickiewicza w krypcie na Wawelu.
Poet, playwright, epistolograpoher, founder of the philosophy of Genesis. Together with Adam Mickiewicz and Zygmunt Krasi�ski, S�owacki is recognised as one of "the three Romantic bards." Polish Romanticism reached its apogee in his literary output, with its various themes and genres.
He was born in Krzemieniec in Wo�y� and grew up and studied in Wilno. Early in his life he lost his father, who was a man of letters, a teacher of diction at Krzemieniec Lyceum, and a professor of literature at University in wilno. At this time he was heavily influenced by his mother, who later became the addressee of his most valuable group of letters. Her sentimental sensitivity did not leave her son's earliest work unaffected: his translations of Alphonse de Lamartine and Thomas Moore (Irish Melodies), as well as his own poems, were written in a sentimental style. S�owacki, brought up among the intellectual elite and intelligentsia, was very attached to his family's noble genealogy, which he expressed time and time again in his literary output.
At the beginning of 1829 he moved to Warsaw, where he worked as a trainee at the Government Income and Treasury Committee. As the only one of the great Romantic poets, S�owacki was for a while an observer of the November Uprising. He wrote three stirring patriotic poems, thanks to which he became famous for a short while. At the time of the uprising, he left for London on a diplomatic mission and, after having fulfilled it, he settled down in Paris. In 1832 he published there a two-volume collection of his early works from the Warsaw period (Poems). He departed there from his sentimental style in favour of the Byronic poetic novel (e.g. Hugo, Jan Bielecki, Mnich [The Monk], Arab [The Arab]) as well as in favour of dramas referring to Shakespeare (Mindowe, Mary Stuart). In the compositions of the Warsaw period he presented a world of the experiences of extraordinary individuals: disagreement with the world and enclosure in the problems of the inner self, questions of revenge, treason, crime - i.e. the whole Romantic Weltschmertz ("the pain of existence".)
The reluctance of the Parisian circles of post-November �migr�s, evoked by the publication of Poems, defined negatively the reception of S�owacki's work for many years. After the collapse of the November Uprising, the individual model of Romanticism offered by the poet proved to be unacceptable. It was not S�owacki, but Mickiewicz, who, with (
Dziady, [Forefathers’ Eve] part 3) published in the same year of 1832, fulfilled the expectations of the refugees who were vividly interested in the problems created by the recent defeat of the Uprising and the fate of the �migr�s. S�owacki, criticised and isolated, shortly after the publishing of Poems left for Geneva, initiating in this way a period of travels to Rome, Naples, Greece, Egypt, and Palestine (1836- 1837.) Only at the end of 1838 did he come back to Paris through Florence, to remain there until the end of his life.During his stay in Switzerland the poet wrote great Romantic dramas dominated by reflections on history and the then current political situation. Kordian (1834) was an attempt to understand his own generation and the reasons for the failure of the uprising. In this work problems connected with patriotism and national issues are entwined with the existential problems of "the child of the century", which had most clearly been expressed in Chateaubriand's Rene(1802) and in Musset's The Confession of the Child of the Century (1836), published after S�owacki’s play. During hi Swiss period S�owacki wrote two more dramas:
Horszty�ski (1835, unpubl.), which is close to Kordian in its existentialist theme, and Balladyna (1834, publ. 1839), a political fairytale about power, which was based on the legendary history of the nation and which made use of various ironic or tragic Shakespearean allusions. S�owacki considered Shakespeare to be the expert on human hearts, the painter of passion who unmasked human nature, and whose way of thinking enabled an understanding of historic evil. In a letter to his mother the poet wrote: "Shakepeare and Dante are my lovers now - and it has been so for two years."The beauty of the Alps (a trip to the Alps near Brno, a longer stay on the Leman) and his growing love for the aristocratic Maria Wodzi�ska, inspired many of the lyrics of that period. A trip to the East resulted in poetry, poetic prose, and literary epistolography. This was not only a journey in a space which was exotic for the poet’s nature, but also a journey in time: towards the heroes of Greece who had fought for independence (Gr�b Agamemnona[Agamemnon's Tomb]), towards the ancient rulers of Egypt (Rozmowa z piramidami [Conversation with the Pyramids]), to Christ and the New Testament (Podr�
� do Ziemi �wi�tej z Neapolu [A Journey to Naples from the Holy Land]). During this journey the poet realised the transience and frailty of human life (Hymn. Smutno mi Bo�e [Hymn. How sad I am, my God]).The journey awoke reflections on the similarities between the fates of different nations and strengthened the belief, typical of Polish Romantic emigrants, that their fate condemned them to eternal exile and the inability to return home. The works which expressed a pessimistic vision of the future were then created. Both Anhelli (1838), written in the style of a biblical parable and describing the fate of Poles in Siberia, and Lilla Weneda (1840), a drama which is often compared to the plays of Victor Hugo and which is about ancient as well as Shakespearean inspirations, had a tragic vision of the nation at their centre. Lilla Weneda was published together with Agamemnon's Tomb, which proclaimed the necessity of the nation's transformation to regain freedom. A completely new attitude towards life and history, which would become predominant in the 1840s, was already present in these works.Beniowski
(1841), a digressive poem written in octaves, should be considered a borderline work. It follows Ariosto in its change of tones and is Byronic in its genre, being close to Don Juan as well as to Alexander Pushkin's Eugene Oniegin. Beniowski is at the same time the peak and the end of Romantic individualism in S�owacki's literary activity. This is where the author overcomes the Byronic type of a hero who is fascinated by his own loneliness. It is here that the poet announces the beginning of a new way of writing in which the closest tradition in drama will be the work of Calderon of drama. He even translates Calderon's Steadfast Prince in 1844. The poet now thinks of himself as of the guide of the nation in its necessary future transformation.His acquaintance with the mystic Andrzej Towia�ski, as well as the fact of joining, even for such a short time as he did, the Circle of God's Cause, founded by Towia�ski and assembling a considerable part of the �migr�s together with Mickiewicz, was a catalyst of that already maturing change. As the highest values S�owacki now considered simplicity, humility, and sacrifice, which are expressed in his manifesto poem So Help Me God (1842). His aim now is the creation of a better self so as to help the nation worthily and wisely. His original system of thought became crystallised in what he himself called the Philosophy of Genesis. It becomes clear in his mystic dramas such as Ksi�dz Marek [Father Mark] (1843), or Sen srebrny Salomei [Salome's Silver Dream] (1844), where the idea of the destruction and death of progress appears. This system of thought is clearly explained in a poetic treaty (Genezis z Ducha [Genesis from the Spirit]) (1844- 1846), which is his version of the Biblical Genesis.
The poet died of tuberculosis and was buried at Montmartre Cemetery. In 1927 his ashes were transferred to Poland and deposited next to Mickiewicz’s in a vault in Wawel Castle.