„Życie sieroty” Jana Barszczewskiego − czarny romantyzm spoza modelu „antagonizmu wieszczów”
“Życie sieroty” by Jan Barszczewski − Dark Romanticism Beyond the Model of “Antagonism of Bards”

Summary/Abstract: The article presents the readers with a long forgotten drama Życie sieroty [The Life of An Orphan] by Jan Barszczewski (1780−1851), an outstanding Polish Romantic literature classic who produced his literary work in Saint Petersburg, Russia, Belarus, the former territory of Poland, and Cudowno, Ukraine. Barszczewski is the one who invented a unique model of referring to both the poetics of Dziady [Forefathers’ Eve] by Adam Mickiewicz and Godzina myśli [Hour of Thought] by Juliusz Słowacki. He consistently manages to refer to both of the great Polish Romantics avoiding any ‘antagonisms’ or juxtapositions of the bards whatsoever. Also, he successfully makes these references become a part of his dark and gloomy vision of the world. This literary phenomenon is at the same time one of the earliest examples of how artfully a poet can resort to inspirations of both authority figures of Polish Romanticism. What makes Barszczewski’s world consistent is his gloom-ridden and obscure vision of the cosmos where the ultimate consolation, in a metaphysical and afterlife sense, is religion − Roman Catholicism in its Easter Rite Catholic form.

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