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"Renaissance artists and poets readily commemorated the lives of the great, but rarely mourned a child who could not even claim noble birth. Yet the sixteenth-century masterpiece ""Treny"" stems from the Polish poet Jan Kochanowski's intense grief over the death of his little daughter Orszula, 'a delightful, radiant, extraordinary child', who died before she was three. The laments stand as Kochanowski's crowning achievement, and the first Polish work to equal the great poems of western Europe. In a cycle by turn reflective, despairing, and finally hesitantly accepting, a father evokes the unfulfilled promise of a life tragically cut short. The work's disarming simplicity and enduring passion, supported by an intellectually impressive structure, are fully realized in translation by Adam Czerniawski, the distinguished contemporary Polish poet. The English translation is accompanied by the original Polish text, edited by Renaissance scholar Piotr Wilczek, and with a foreword by Donald Davie. This important edition will prove of value to scholars and teachers of Slavonic literature, and to all lovers of poetry."
The 'Laments' are a series of nineteen threnodies (elegies) by Jan Kochanowski. They are a highlight of Polish Renaissance literature, and one of Kochanowski's signature achievements. The poems express Kochanowski's boundless grief; and, standing in sharp contrast to his previous works, which had advocated such values as stoicism, can be seen as the poet's own critique of his earlier work. In a wider sense, they show a thinking man of the Renaissance at a moment of crisis when he is forced, through suffering and the stark confrontation of his ideals with reality, to re-evaluate his former humanistic philosophy of life.
Excerpt from Laments Jan Kochanowski (1580 - 84) was the greatest poet of Poland during its existence as an independent kingdom. His Laments are his masterpiece, the choicest work of Polish lyric poetry before the time of Mickiewicz. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Jan Kochanowski (1530 ? 1584) He was born in Sycyna and studied among other places in universities of Cracow and Padua. Kochanowski is a father of Slavic poetry. In his poetry, he used mainly eleven and thirteen syllable hexameter. His poetry conveys imagery, classical rhythm and contains beautiful language. In the Banner, Albrecht is the Prince of the newly established, first protestant country, named Prussia, which came to existence after transformation of Teutonic Order by the advice of Martin Luther in 1525. J. Kochanowski lived only 54 years, but he was a witness of his drama, ""Dismissal of Grecian Envoys"" to be played in front of the king. During his lifetime, he was recognized as a famous poet. His works were published also in Latin and he was respected well to do writer. J. Kochanowski died when Shakespeare was 20 years old.
Critical biography of Jan Kochanowski, a Polish Renaissance poet
Laments is a collection of poetry that brings together works by two great poets: Dorothea Prall and Jan Kochanowski. With powerful imagery and emotional depth, the poems explore themes such as love, loss, grief, and hope. Whether read for their literary merit or their emotional impact, the poems in Laments are sure to resonate with readers of all ages. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Polish poems from the Middle Ages through the 19th century in English translation