Gramatykalizacja podmiotu mówiącego w emigracyjnych tomikach poetyckich Jana Lechonia
(Grammaticalisation of the speaking subject in the volumes of verse written by Jan Lechoń in Exile

Summary/Abstract: In the article the attention is focused on the ways of grammaticalisation of the speaking subject (the lyric subject) in the poetry by Jan Lechoń in his last two collections (Aria z kurantem [‘Aria with Carillon’], 1945, and Marmur i róża [‘Marble and a Rose’], 1954). Only the pieces in which the speaking subject may be equated with the author himself have been chosen for examination (e.g. Naśladowanie Or-Ota [‘Imitating Or-Ot’], Wieczór w Salamance [‘An Evening i n Salamanca’], and Cytata [‘Quotation’]). In order to present his feelings, sensations, and experiences the poet expresses himself either in first person singular or in other forms. The former include both verbal forms, e.g. wiem [I know], tęsknię [I miss] and pronominal forms, e.g. mi [me] (compare: ‘Wiem, czego mi potrzeba: tęsknię do ojczyzny’ [‘I know what is necessary for me to live: my home country’]), which are unambiguously marked. The latter may be the verbal forms such as second person singular, e.g. ‘mógłbyś’ [‘you might’], or pronouns of second person, e.g. ‘ci’ [‘thee’] (compare: ‘Te same mógłbyś kwiaty oglądać stokrotnie / I zieleń, co wciąż bardziej zda ci się głęboką’ [‘The same flowers you might look at a hundred times’ / And at the verdancy that seems deeper and deeper’]. What takes place then is a stylistic substitution, as a result of which certain grammatical forms become carriers of other value than the one that is ascribed to them normally; in other words, the exponents of the speaking subject perform the function of first person (compare: ‘mógłbyś = mógłbym’ [‘you could = I could’], ‘ci = mi’ [‘thee = me’]), which is incompatible with their systematic characteristics. The grammatical processes presented in the article are examples of stylistic accommodation and perform diverse functions in a poetic text. Introducing other forms instead of the first-person ones may serve as a generalisation (the embracing function, compare: ‘Nieraz potop nas zalewał’ [‘Many a time had we been inundated with a deluge’]) or universalisation (the generalising function, compare: ‘Trzeba z tym się zgodzić’ [‘It is necessary to agree with that’]) of the phenomena indicated by them.

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