Polish literature
Polish literature, body of writings in Polish, one of the Slavic languages. The Polish national literature holds an exceptional position in Poland. Over the centuries it has mirrored the turbulent events of Polish history and at times sustained the nation’s cultural and political identity.
Poland acquired a literary language in Latin when it became a Christian land in the 10th century. When Mieszko I, prince of Poland, accepted Christianity in 966, he invited Roman Catholic priests from western Europe to build churches and monasteries as religious and cultural centres. In these centres Latin was the official language of the church, and it eventually became the language of early Polish literature.
Thereafter literature in the Polish language was slow to emerge. The development of a national literature was restrained in part by Poland’s remoteness from the cultural centres of Western civilization and by the difficulties that assailed the young state, which was frequently attacked by plundering invaders and subsequently weakened by division into small principalities.
The Middle Ages
Religious writings
As in other European countries, Latin was at first the only literary language of Poland, and early works included saints’ lives, annals, and chronicles written by monks and priests. The most important of these works are the Chronicon, which was compiled about 1113 by a Benedictine known only as Gallus Anonymous, and the Annales seu cronicae incliti regni Poloniae, brought up to 1480 by Jan Długosz, archbishop of Lwów. These two works parallel similar achievements in western Europe. Use of the vernacular was allowed by the church where Latin could not meet particular needs—in prayers, sermons, and songs. The oldest surviving poetry text in Polish is a song in honour of the Virgin Mary, “Bogurodzica” (“Mother of God”), in which language and rhythm are used with high artistic craftsmanship. The earliest extant copy of the song’s text dates from 1407, but its origins are much earlier. Preaching in Polish became established toward the end of the 13th century; the earliest-known example of Polish prose, the Kazania świętokrzyskie (“Sermons of the Holy Cross”), dating from the end of the 13th or the beginning of the 14th century, was discovered in 1890. Among many similar works, a partial translation of the Bible, made about 1455 for Queen Sophia, widow of Władysław Jagiełło, has also survived.
Early secular literature
Secular works began to appear in the middle of the 15th century. There was a poem criticizing the papacy (c. 1449) by Jędrzej Gałka, a follower of reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus, and a high literary standard was achieved in a morality verse dialogue, Rozmowa Mistrza ze Śmiercią (“Dialogue Between the Master and Death”). The medieval period of Polish literature lasted long. Elements of this late medievalism are evident in Marcin Bielski’s Renaissance work Kronika wszystkiego świata (1551; “Chronicle of the Whole World”), the first general history in Polish of both Poland and the rest of the world.
The best examples of Polish literature of that period imply a building and maintaining of high literary standards. Although the themes are those of a common European heritage, medieval Polish writings are often intensely personal even when they are anonymous. The groundwork was laid for Polish literature’s elevation to the ranks of major literature during the reign of Casimir the Great, who founded the University of Kraków in 1364.
The Renaissance period
Although the Renaissance reached Poland comparatively late, it ushered in the golden age of Polish literature. External security, constitutional consolidation, and the Reformation contributed to this flowering.
The first generation of writers influenced by the Italian humanists wrote in Latin. This group includes Jan Dantyszek (Johannes Dantiscus), an author of incidental verse, love poetry, and panegyric; Andrzej Krzycki (Cricius), an archbishop who wrote witty epigrams, political verse, and religious poems; and Klemens Janicki (Janicius), a peasant who studied in Italy and won there the title of poet laureate. Janicki was the most original Polish poet of the age.
Mikołaj Rej of Nagłowice was notable for combining medieval religious interests with Renaissance humanism. Self-educated, he was the first idiomatically Polish talent and a widely read writer of his time. He is known as “the father of Polish literature.” He wrote satirical poems and epigrams, but more important are his prose works, especially Żywot człowieka poczciwego (1568; “Life of a Decent Man”), a presentation of an ideal nobleman, and a didactic dialogue, Krótka rozprawa między trzemi osobami panem, wójtem a plebanem (1543; “A Short Discourse Between the Squire, the Bailiff, and the Parson”).
Kochanowski and his followers
The second generation of humanist poets, indeed the whole Renaissance period, was dominated by Jan Kochanowski. The son of a country squire, he traveled widely in Europe, then served at the royal court in Kraków until he settled down at his country estate. He began writing in Latin but soon switched to the vernacular. He wrote both satirical poetry and classical tragedy, but his lyrical works proved to be superior to anything written before him. His crowning achievement, a Polish work that equals the great poems of western Europe, was Treny (1580; Laments). Inspired by despair after the death of his three-year-old daughter, it ends on a note of reconciliation and spiritual harmony.
The most notable of Kochanowski’s followers was Szymon Szymonowic (Simonides). He introduced in his Sielanki (1614; “Idylls”) a poetic genre that was to retain its vitality until the end of the 19th century. These pastoral poems exemplify the processes of imitation, adaptation, and assimilation by which Renaissance writers brought foreign models into the native tradition.
The numerous poems, in Latin and Polish, of Sebastian Klonowic are of interest for their description of contemporary life. Worek Judaszów (1600; “Judas’s Sack”) is a satirical poem on plebeian life in the city of Lublin, of which Klonowic was mayor.
Achievements in prose writing
The prose of the 16th century ranked with poetry in its vitality and range. The most eminent writer in Latin was Andrzej Frycz-Modrzewski. In his Commentariorum de republica emendanda libri quinque (1554; “Commentary on Reforming the Republic in Five Books”), he evolved a bold social and political system based on the principle of equality before God and the law. Another notable political writer was Marcin Kromer, scholar, humanist, historian, and Catholic apologist. The most interesting of his works is Rozmowy dworzanina z mnichem (1551–54; “Dialogues of a Courtier with a Monk”), a strong defense of Catholic dogma. Many historical and political writings and translations of the Bible were also published during this period, with Jakub Wujek’s Polish translation of the Bible as an outstanding literary work.
By the end of the Renaissance period, Polish literature had become a national literature, reflecting the country’s position as a great power with far-flung boundaries, the evolution of the nobility as a ruling class, and the nation’s economic prosperity. Poland’s influence spread east, above all to Moscow, while to the west its culture was represented by men of such high repute as the scientist and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (Mikołaj Kopernik).