Świecka modlitwa? Pozdrowienie dla moli? – Jan Zych o poezji
A secular prayer? Greetings to moths? – Jan Zych on poetry

Author(s): Małgorzata Szulc
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Literary Texts, Studies of Literature, Philology, Theory of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Summary/Abstract: Jan Zych was a poet, translator, and copy editor. Auto‑thematic motifs appearingin his works mainly concern two areas. The first is a folk ancestry of poetry, which is frequently referred to by Zych, and which results not only from the poet’s background.The motif of a folk song occurs the most demonstrably in the first volume, although its echo will sound also in the last one. The second area concerns the role of a poet and poetry, to which Zych has an ambivalent attitude. Nevertheless, from volume to volume, he approaches both the words and himself‑the poet with more and more humbleness, even doubt, which is perfectly evidenced by the terse form of his last poems. Referring to lyric poetry as „świecka modlitwa” („a secular prayer”) and „pozdrowienie dla moli” („greetings to moths”) is at the same time referring to its origin and emphasizing his own contradictory attitude towards poetry, with an inclination to downgrading its role.

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