A Redeeming Faithfulness: Some Remarks on Anna Kamieńska’s poem “Kiedy odchodzą wielcy” (When the great ones pass away)
Wojciech KRUSZEWSKI
Katedra Tekstologii i Edytorstwa, Instytut Literaturoznawstwa, Wydział Nauk Humanistycznych, Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II, Al. Racławickie 14, 20-950 Lublin, Poland , Polandhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-1314-4620
Abstract
The article offers a commentary on Anna Kamieńska’s poem “Kiedy odchodzą wielcy” (“When the great ones pass away”). Dedicated to Maria Janion, great scholar and scholar of Polish Romanticism, the poem was written in 1965, during Kamieńska’s trip to Vilnius. The context which served as the basis for the commentary comprises working materials related to the genesis of the poem, such as calendars, diaries, poetry notebooks, and a photo album. In the successive sections of the paper, the author answers questions concerning the origin of the dedication, Kamieńska’s experiences of the Vilnius journey essential to the creation of the poem, and its possible hidden protagonist. The proposed interpretation focuses on the motif of old women in the poem and its rootedness in Kamieńska’s output, as well as and on the uniqueness of the treatment of this motif by Kamieńska in 20th century Polish literature.
Translated by Patrycja Mikulska
Keywords:
Anna Kamieńska, Maria Janion, Władysław Syrokomla, 20th-century Polish poetry, RomanticismKatedra Tekstologii i Edytorstwa, Instytut Literaturoznawstwa, Wydział Nauk Humanistycznych, Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II, Al. Racławickie 14, 20-950 Lublin, Poland https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1314-4620
