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How Julian Przyboś Read the Poets of the Polish Enlightenment – Additional Remarks
Abstract
The article explores Julian Przyboś’s poem Powrót na wieś (Return to the Countryside, 1933), which serves as a clear reference to Franciszek Karpiński’s Powrót z Warszawy na wieś (Return from Warsaw to the Countryside, 1783/1784). Both poems were composed under similar circumstances and reflect analogous experiences. Karpiński, a provincial poet of the Enlightenment period, travels to the capital city, drawn by the allure of engaging in literary life, advancing his career as a writer, and improving his financial situation. However, he soon becomes disillusioned with life in the capital and decides to return to the countryside, his hometown, despite the sacrifices involved. For Karpiński, the countryside symbolizes authentic values, interpreted in the spirit of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
Nearly 150 years later, Przyboś undergoes a comparable experience. Disenchanted with Warsaw, modernity, and civilization, he too decides to return to his hometown. However, Przyboś’s poem does not frame this decision as a matter of poetic form but rather as a reflection of shared experience. His literary choices are further supported by references to other poets, both Polish and foreign, such as Juliusz Słowacki and Sergei Yesenin. It is also noteworthy that both Karpiński and Przyboś originated from small villages in the Carpathian region: Karpiński from Hołoskowo (present-day Ukraine) and Przyboś from Gwoźnica.
Keywords:
Julian Przyboś, Franciszek Karpiński, literary tradition, experience, poeticsDetails
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.