Rey, Bielski, Copernicus, Czartoryski, Niemcewicz, Mickiewicz, and others.
The Polish language is the only existing representative of that variety of
idioms originally spoken by the Slavic tribes, which, under the name of
Lekhes, in the sixth or seventh century, settled on the banks of the
Vistula and Varta. Although very little is known of the progress of the
language into its present state, it is sufficiently obvious that it has
developed from the conflict of its natural elements with the Latin and
German idioms. Of the other Slavic dialects, the Bohemian is the only one
which has exerted any influence upon this tongue. The Polish language is
refined and artificial in its grammatical structure, rich in its words and
phrases, and, like the Bohemian, capable of faithfully imitating the
refinements of the classical languages. It has a great variety and nicety
of shades in the pronunciation of the vowels, and such combinations of
consonants as can only be conquered by a Slavic tongue.
The literary history of Poland begins, like that of Bohemia, at the epoch
of the introduction of Christianity. In the year 965, Miecislav, Duke of
Poland, married the Bohemian princess Dombrovka, who consented to the
marriage on the condition of the duke becoming a convert to Christianity;
and from that time the Polish princes, and the greater part of the nation,
adopted the new faith. The clergy in those early ages in Poland, as well
as elsewhere, were the depositaries of mental light; and the Benedictine
monks who, with others, had been invited to the converted country, founded
convents, to which they early attached schools. Their example was
followed, at a later period, by other orders, and for several centuries
the natives were excluded from all clerical dignities and privileges, and
the education of the country was directed by foreign monks. They burned
the few writings which they found in the vernacular tongue, and excited
unnatural prejudices against it. From the ninth to the sixteenth century
Polish literature was almost entirely confined to the translation of a
part of the Bible and a few chronicles written in Latin. Among these must
be noticed the chronicle of Martin Gallus (d. 1132), an emigrant
Frenchman, who is considered as the oldest historian of Poland.
Casimir (1333-1370) was one of the few princes who acquired the name of
the Great, not by conquests, but by the substantial benefits of laws,
courts of justice, and means of education, which he procured for his
subjects. In his reign was formed the first code of laws, known by the
name of "Statute of Wislica," a part of which is written in the Polish
language; and he laid the foundation of the university of Cracow (1347),
which, however, was only organized half a century later. Hedevig, the
granddaughter of Casimir, married Jagello of Lithuania, and under their
descendants, who reigned nearly two centuries, Poland rose to the summit
of power and glory. With Sigismund I. (1505-1542), and Sigismund Augustus
(1542-1613), a new period of Polish literature begins. The university of
Cracow had been organized in 1400, on the model of that of Prague, and
this opened a door for the doctrines, first of the Bohemian, then of the
German reformers. The wild flame of superstition which kindled the fagots
for the disciples of the new doctrines in Poland was extinguished by
Sigismund I. and Sigismund II., in whom the Reformation found a decided
support. Under their administration Poland was the seat of a toleration
then unequaled in the world; the Polish language became more used in
literary productions, and was fixed as the medium through which laws and
decrees were promulgated.
Rey of Naglowic (1515-1569), who lived at the courts of the Sigismunds, is
called the father of Polish poetry. Most of his productions are of a
religious nature, and bear the stamp of a truly poetical talent. John
Kochanowski (1530-1584) published a translation of the Psalms, which is
still considered as a classical work. His other poems, in which Pindar,
Anacreon, and Horace were alternately his models, are distinguished for
their conciseness and terseness of style. Rybinski (fl. 1581) and Simon
Szymonowicz (d. 1629), the former as a lyric poet, the latter as a writer
of idyls, maintain a high rank.
The Poles possess all the necessary qualities for oratory, and the
sixteenth century was eminent for forensic and pulpit eloquence. History
was cultivated with much zeal, but mostly in the Latin language. Martin
Bielski (1500-1576) was the author of the "Chronicle of Poland," the first
historical work in Polish. Scientific works were mostly written in Latin,
the cultivation of which, in Poland, has ever kept pace with the study of
the vernacular tongue. Indeed, the most eminent writers and orators of the
sixteenth century, who made use of the Polish language, managed the Latin
with equal skill and dexterity, and in common conversation both Latin and
Polish were used.
Among the scientific writers of Latin is the astronomer Copernicus (1473-
1543). He early went to Italy, and was appointed professor of mathematics
at Rome. He at length returned to Poland, and devoted himself to the study
of astronomy. Having spent twenty years in observations and calculations,
he brought his scheme to perfection, and established the theory of the
universe which is now everywhere received.
The interval between 1622 and 1760 marks a period of a general decadence
in Polish literature. The perversion of taste which, at the beginning of
that age, reigned in Italy, and thence spread over Europe, reached Poland;
and for nearly a hundred and fifty years the country, under the influence
of the Jesuits, was the victim of a stifling intolerance, and of a general
mental paralysis. But in the reign of Stanislaus Augustus (1762-1795),
Poland began to revive, and the national literature received a new
impulse. Though the French language and manners prevailed, and the
bombastic school of Marini was only supplanted by that of the cold and
formal poets of France, the cultivation of the Polish language was not
neglected; a periodical work, to which the ablest men of the country
contributed, was published, public instruction was made one of the great
concerns of the government, and the power of the Jesuits was destroyed.
The dissolution of the kingdom which soon followed, its partition and
amalgamation with foreign nations, kindled anew the patriotic spirit of
the Poles, who devoted themselves with more zeal than ever to the
cultivation of their native language, the sole tie which still binds them
together. The following are the principal representatives of this period:
Stephen Konarski (1700-1773), a writer on politics and education, who
devoted himself entirely to the literary and mental reform of his country;
Zaluski (1724-1786), known more especially as the founder of a large
library, which, at the dismemberment of Poland, was transferred to St.
Petersburg; and, above all, Adam Czartoryski (1731-1823), and the two
brothers Potocki, distinguished as statesmen, orators, writers, and
patrons of literature and art. At the head of the historical writers of
the eighteenth century stands Naruszewicz (1753-1796), whose history of
Poland is considered as a standard work. In respect to erudition,
philosophical conception, and purity of style, it is a masterpiece of
Polish literature. Krasicki (1739-1802), the most distinguished poet under
Stanislaus Augustus, was called the Polish Voltaire. His poems and prose
writings are replete with wit and spirit, though bearing evident marks of
French influence, which was felt in almost all the poetical productions of
that age.
Niemcewicz (1787-1846) is regarded as one of the greatest poets of the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Having fought by the side of
Kosciusko, and shared his fate as a prisoner, he accompanied him to
America, where he became the friend and associate of Washington, whose
life he afterwards described. His other works consist of historical songs,
dramas, and a history of the reign of Sigismund.
There is no branch of literature in which the Poles have manifested
greater want of original power than in the drama, where the influence of
the French school is decided, and, indeed, exclusive. Novels and tales,
founded on domestic life, are not abundant in Polish literature;
philosophy has had few votaries, and the other sciences, with the
exception of the mathematical and physical branches, have been, till
recently, neglected.
The failure of the revolution of 1830 forms a melancholy epoch in Polish
history, and especially in Polish literature. The universities of Warsaw
and Wilna were broken up, and their rich libraries removed to St.
Petersburg. Even the lower schools were mostly deprived of their funds,
and changed to Russian government schools. The press was placed under the
strictest control, the language and the national peculiarities of the
country were everywhere persecuted, the Russian tongue and customs
substituted, and the poets and learned men either silenced or banished.
Yet since that time the national history has become more than ever a
chosen study with the people; and as the results of these researches,
since 1830, cannot be written in Poland, Paris has become the principal
seat of Polish learning. One of the first works of importance published
there was the "History of the Polish Insurrection," by Mochnachi (1804-
1835), known before as the author of a work on the Polish literature of
the nineteenth century, and as the able editor of several periodicals.
Lelewel, one of the leaders of the revolution, wrote a work on the civil
rights of the Polish peasantry, which has exercised a more decided
influence in Poland than that of any modern author. Miekiewicz (1798-
1843), a leader of the same revolution, is the most distinguished of the
modern poets of Poland. His magnificent poem of "The Feast of the Dead" is
a powerful expression of genius. His "Sonnets on the Crimea" are among his
happiest productions, and his "Sir Thaddeus" is a graphic description of
the civil and domestic life of Lithuania. Mickiewicz is the founder of the
modern romantic school in Poland, to which belong the most popular
productions of Polish literature. Zalesski, Grabowski, and others of this
school have chosen the Ukraine as the favorite theatre of their poems, and
give us pictures of that country, alternately sweet, wild, and romantic.
Of all the Slavic nations, the Poles have most neglected their popular
poetry, a fact which may be easily explained in a nation among whom
whatever refers to mere boors and serfs has always been regarded with the
utmost contempt. Their beautiful national dances, however, the graceful
Polonaise, the bold Masur, the ingenious Cracovienne, are equally the
property of the nobility and peasantry, and were formerly always
accompanied by singing instead of instrumental music. These songs were
extemporized, and were probably never committed to writing.
The centre of literary activity in Poland is Warsaw, which, in spite of
the severe restrictions on the press, has always maintained its
preëminence.