Book_ C I jd^ £_ą s_ p=^=^ i M-> n . » * i a s i 2 £ Twe -go Sy_na krrci.cie la ibo _ 4 fpus ^TTg-p^r 7~(P 7 I i fp" ' j i pff^^H Ś£ F^g^ > « 1 1* 'T^i'M 1 To .dać ra-czj ie-goi prosie -n , rf^J JJ Jl Ju|,j,Jj|J j i WYBÓR POEZYI POLSKIE Y. SPECIMENS OF THE POLISH POETS; WITH NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS ox THE LITERATURE OF POLAND. By JOHN BOWRING. Narody nie gasną ; Lecz i za mogiła Maią bytnoic' iasna Cnot i nauk sita. LONDON : PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR. SOLD BY BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AND JOY ; AND ROWLAND HUNTER. 1827. JPIEOT BOGA fKDBOTCA* " Twe -go Sy.na krrci-cie la ito - rny @l.i.^'H _. ■ ■ tl ' '' __ _ czas u- -słysr g*o-«y na-prtniy my.sli GWo--wie^ie»lysrmo.dli.tweieii.ie cie^ pro-»ie.my ...'^"■.M., w y bo u POEzyi polskiey. SPECIMENS or THE POLISH POETS; WITH NOTES AND OBSERVATION^ THE LITERATURE OF POLAND. By JOHN BOWRING, Narody nic gasną ; Leci i za mogiła i bytnoic' iasna Cnot i nauk silą. LONDON : PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR. SOLD BY BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AND JOY ; AND ROWLAND HUNTER. 1827. \ PRINTED BY RICHARD TAYLOR, RED-LION-COURT, FLEET-STREET. ADVERTISEMENT. oome explanation is required of the long delay which has attended the publication of this volume. I had reason to hope that I should have ob- tained the active co-operation and assistance of several Polish friends, interested in the lite- rary reputation of their country, — but commu- nication is so difficult, and on certain subjects so dangerous, that I have been disappointed; and have felt myself compelled to decide on now ushering these imperfect Specimens into the world, rather than indulge a longer hesi- tation, which would have led probably to the VI ADVERTISEMENT. total abandonment of my purpose. My deter- mination would have been different, had I seen any chance that abler hands would fill the chasm in foreign literature, which an almost total igno- rance of Polish authors has left. All that I can now hope for is, to prepare the way for some future and more intelligent student: — and all that I can promise is, to go on collecting mate- rials, in order to supply hereafter the deficiencies of the present work. J. B. PREFACE. Instruction is the great legacy which the past bequeaths to the present and the future. The only value of history consists in the lessons of ex- perience, — in the materials of improvement which are to be found in its pages. And happily its im- portant results are all testimonies to the power, and securities for the triumph, of truth and virtue. For the influences of crime and error are only tem- porary ; while time gathers together from among the ruins of vicissitude all the best works of in- tellectual and moral excellence. Nations them- selves are swept away, and lose their indepen- dence, their names, and their glories ; but even when they cease to be, the common, the univer- sal voice of mankind rescues the memory of their great and their good men from oblivion. VJ11 PREFACE. and receives them into a nobler and higher bro- therhood than that of national attachment, — into the brotherhood of the elect of our race. A few ages pass by, and the prejudices of local sym- pathy pass by with them. There is no longer any patriotism in preferring Laud to Fenelon ; and Milton may, without offence, be deemed a greater man than Salmasius. If there be any case in which it is natural to look with peculiar interest to the literary history of nations, it is when, by a series of calamities — and not of crimes, — a people once distin- guished has fallen from a high position. To Poland, after ages of national greatness, nothing now. remains but her past records and her ancient fame. If recollections of power and thoughts of liberty sometimes pass through the mind of her more gifted children, such emotions must be suppressed ; for how should meet utter- ance be given to them ? Poland is now " the shadow of a name ;" and that futurity which is so dark, even for happier nations, seems to offer no single ray of hope to those among whom PREFACE. IX Kościuszko wielded a sword never drawn but in the cause of freedom, and to whom Sarbiewski addressed his plaintive musings : " Stat tacitus cinis Cui serus inscribat viator : Cum populo jacet hic et ipso Cum Rege Regnum."— Lib. ii. Od. 5. In preparing this volume, I have often been encouraged by a melancholy pleasure, akin to that with which we remove or lighten the sum of human suffering. Poland as a nation appears sunk for ever. Her provinces partitioned, — her capital occupied by strangers, — her institutions destroyed, — her strength dissipated, — her mili- tary virtues turned into any channel which may divert them from the pursuit of their country's independence ; — but Poland, forgotten by states- men and politicians, has some claim on the at- tention of those who make mind, and not terri- tory, the subject of their thoughts. And if I can be instrumental in elevating the intellectual reputation of the Poles, then my feelings tell me I shall have done a good work. If these a 5 X PREFACE. trifling labours of mine shall find acceptance among my countrymen, I know that their suc- cess will carry delight to the bosoms of thou- sands on the banks of the Dnieper and the Vis- tula, who feel, but utter not : " Poloniam quaeremus patriam." But with whatever despondency we may look upon any one portion of the human race, — or with howsoever deep a shadow a particular coun- try may be covered, there can be no doubt that man, — as man, — is making wonderful advances in all improvement. Individual speculations may be frustrated, and individual hopes be wrecked ; whole nations may be the victims of the force of armies or the fraud of courts ; — yet it is most certain that the great balance of loss and gain is distinctly in favour of humanity. One temporary defeat of a righteous cause has been made tolerable by a thousand permanent victories ; — and the primary truths on which the well-being of mankind depends, — truths which not long ago scarcely a tongue could be found PREFACE. Xl to utter, — are now recognized through the civi- lized world. One fact is singularly illustrative of the im- provement of the age, and at the same time most consolatory to the benevolent affections. It is, that our sympathies have broken through the narrow walls in which they had been so long imprisoned. In a state of barbarism, the feelings are almost wholly selfish. Our ancestors cared only for themselves, their families, or their tribe. Civilization widens more and more the circle of friendly interest. It communicates the social ardour from man to man, from nation to na- tion. Philanthropy becomes a dearer, inas- much as it is a far nobler word than patriotism. Men of all parties have watched with deep anxiety the struggle which is yet in progress be- tween the oppressed and the oppressor, — be- tween the demand for reformation and the old spirit of despotism, — between our own wants and " the wisdom of our ancestors," — between the claims of the many and the power of the few. The cause is an universal cause, — equally Xli PREFACE. illustrated by the overthrow of Poland and the triumphs of America. This is not the place, nor this the occasion, to trace the progress of that flagitious conspiracy which led to the dismemberment of Poland. That the aristocratical form of government among the Poles was pernicious, is most un- doubted ; — but it was their own, — and popular opinion had already begun to modify and me- liorate its character. The pretence that the in- terference of the first " Holy Alliance " was to benefit the Polish people, was as mendacious as the act itself was abominable. The situation of Poland was such as to excite the jealousy of neighbouring governments ; and to this circum- stance, no doubt, may be mainly traced that policy which first betrayed and then divided her. Among the nations of Europe she cer- tainly stood only in the second rank ; but she occupied the first place among those of Scla- vonic origin. The western Sclavonian tribes who inhabited Lusatia, Pomerania, Mecklen- burg, and Silesia ; the whole kingdoms of PREFACE. Xlii Bohemia and Moravia had merged into the Germanic confederation ; those of the South had bowed to the Hungarian and the Turkish yoke. While Russia for more than two cen- turies was held in bondage by the Tartars, who had extended their dominion from Turkey over the whole of Eastern Europe, and even to the boundaries of China in Northern Asia, — the Poles alone, of all the Sclavonians, remained unsubdued. It can hardly be deemed surprising that the Polish nation, in their present day of humilia- tion and sorrow, should fondly dwell upon the old triumphs of their forefathers ; that their poets and historians should again and again re- mind them that Poland had been equally the im- passable barrier to the Roman warriors from the South, and the victorious Moslems from the East; — that the twelfth century saw the iron pillars of Polish conquerors raised from the Dnieper to the Elbe ; and that even in the seventeenth, they were the lawgivers in Moscow, of which XIV PREFACE. they had possessed themselves, and from whence they brought the Czar Szuyski captive, to grace the entrance of their chieftain Żółkiewski into Warsaw. Heavy indeed was the penalty which Poland paid in the sequel; bitter the retaliation with w T hich Russia has visited her in our days. The tomb of the Moscovite Czar was razed at Warsaw by Prince Rep- nin, the ambassador of Alexander, while other Russians were engaged in raising another tomb to Stanisław Poniatowski, the last and the most wretched of the kings of Poland, in the new metropolis of the Moscovitan empire ; — a tomb prepared to receive, if report be true, the un- timely deposit of that monarch's remains. The attachment which the Poles have shown to the French nation, and the devotedness with which they served that extraordinary being, who, though an enemy to liberty in the abstract, was certainly a friend to the liberty of Poland, are easily accounted for. Towards whom could they turn, when their country was degraded and PREFACE, XV dismembered, — when every neighbouring state had looked complacently upon that robbery whose spoils they divided among themselves ? France had given a noble example to Poland and the world ; she had taken the initiative in the European struggle for freedom, and she seemed to have assured her triumph and the triumph of mankind. In our moments of de- jection we have sometimes deemed that triumph fleeting and unsubstantial : but our fears have unreasonably darkened the present and the fu- ture. For the French revolution did break into ten thousand pieces the Dagon of despotism ; — and the monstrous idol can never again be set up before its millions of worshippers. They are disabused now. Whether the Bourbons reign or not is really a trifling matter ; for while the privileges of the few subserve the interests of the many, — while property and enjoyment have been so infinitely diffused, — while the ex- actions of the church and the pretensions of the nobility have been wholly, and apparently for XVI PREFACE. ever, circumscribed ; the revolution has been effected, and been crowned with glorious results. The Poles saw this ; and attached themselves to the advocates of principles in which alone they perceived the promise of salvation. Their millen- nium seemed dawning, and they paid their ardent homage to their political regenerator. Many nations he betrayed ; but he betrayed not Po- land : and though he did little for her regenera- tion, he did something for her hopes. He might have done more : he might have created many a grateful nation, — and Poland would have been foremost in her gratitude. Those who regarded him with complacency as the enemy and over- thrower of the old and legitimate despotisms of the Continent, watched with equal interest the seeming care with which he encouraged the mi- litary spirit of the Poles. But in all ..this he thought not of Poland ; — he thought not even of France. Napoleon Buonaparte was the sole object of his sympathies. The Polish nation, too weak to resist the united influence of their PREFACE. XVII despoilers, gave evidence, notwithstanding, that the old spirit of independence — a spirit which can only be extinguished, if ever, by a long long series of sufferings and calamities, — was not wholly subdued. Great numbers of Poles abandoned their country on its partition. One troop of sol- diers—the wreck of Kosciusko's army — forced their way through Germany to France, and formed the nucleus of that " Polish Legion," whose courage has been so often celebrated, and whose fate has been so often deplored. Evidence of the uneasiness of the yoke which has been laid on Poland may be found wherever we look. In 1807 the Polish troops in the Prussian army deserted their station, and turned upon their oppressors. New hopes were excited when Na- poleon raised a part of Poland from its previous dependence, and created, by the treaty of Tilsit, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. Poniatowski, round whom the nobility and peasantry of Ga- licia gathered as round a restored and restoring father, routed the army of the Austrian Archduke John ; while the Poles who were mingled with XVIII PREFACE. the Austrian troops, took every occasion to abandon their ranks, and to join the Polish sol- diery. In the war of 1 8 1 2, the results of which were so fatal to the last hopes of Poland, no less than eighty thousand Poles and Lithuanians are said to have risen in arms. The Poles, first in the advance upon Moscow, were the last to retreat : and ruinous as were the consequences of that hor- rible campaign to the army and the person of Na- poleon, they would have been yet more fatal but for the courageous endurance of the Polish troops, led by Poniatowski, Dombrowski, Chtopicki, Krasinki, and Zaia,czek the late viceroy. The re-establishment of Poland might have followed the triumph of the French Emperor ; — the riveting her chains has resulted from his defeat. He might not have chosen to reinstate Poland in her ancient influential greatness, under a go- vernment of her own free choice ; but he would certainly have redeemed her from the intolerable yoke of Russia, Austria, and Prussia : and even though he had divided Poland and Lithuania, and given to each a separate ruler, it would have PREFACE. XIX been impossible for him to exercise any very ex- cessive and baneful interference, since his only support would have been found in the popular feeling. A conqueror to supplant other con- querors, his sway would have been frail and fleeting, — as a protector, a deliverer alone, could he be mighty. But in the present situation of the world, the restoration of Poland would seem a very idle dream. A state of things so favourable as that produced by Buonaparte in the humiliation of the Northern powers can hardly again be anticipated. Poland, unre- deemed and disconsolate, has been delivered over to its first usurpers ; and the probability is, that her language and her people will, in the course of a few generations, be interblended and lost in those of her despoilers *. 1 A series of Polish biographical memoirs, with portraits of the most illustrious of their military characters, was published in folio a short time since. The University of Warsaw assigned a prize about four years ago to the best written Life of Kościuszko. But it is not under an enslaved XX PREFACE. Let us take a glance at Poland after the par- tition. — Its immediate consequences in the Aus- trian provinces were imprisonments, confisca- tions, banishments, and the array of sufferings by which despotism rules. Not only were in- dividuals subjected to domestic ruin, or to exile ; but the estates of the corporate bodies were despoiled or seized. Joseph the Second confiscated the lands of the monastic orders ; and his successor has pillaged the gold and silver services and ornaments of the churches, and even despoiled the royal tombs of Cracow. Taxation has been spread not only over real property to an extent which frequently leaves no revenue from hereditary domains, but the silver and gold plate of the Poles has been wrested from them in the name of " loans," to be re- paid in promissory notes of the government, — a currency constantly depreciating in value. press that justice can be done to the civic virtues. A bio- graphy which in the spirit and love of truth and freedom should record the acts of their best defenders, would be a delightful and instructive work. • PREFACE. XXI The presence of the stranger was visible through the Prussian provinces in a different shape. There Poland had to be Prussianized. The love of system, the determination to bend everything to a general and unvarying form, has always characterized the Berlin govern- ment. A whole nation is dealt w r ith as a troop of soldiers ; so as to leave to the mind, to the will, as narrow a field of thought and action as possible. It was decreed that the German lan- guage should supersede the Polish; and the proceedings of the tribunals and of the govern- ment were all conducted in the language of the intruders. . Property was far more respected by the Prussian than by the Austrian authorities ; — the despotism of the latter was of a gross, phy- sical, rapacious character, — less galling perhaps than the more refined and specious government which interfered at every step with the habits, prejudices, and feelings of the people. Poor and intrusive Prussian officers irritated the Poles not so much by their exactions as by their constant meddling with Polish usages. And the invete- XXII PREFACE. rate hatred which the Poles have always borne towards the Germans was fostered by the events of every day. But property was withal respected : and when the king's statue was erected at Kró- lewiec (Konigsberg), the words "Suum cut" were engraved on the pedestal. The successors of William followed his wise example. But the creation of the Duchy of Warsaw put an end to the Prussian authority in Poland. The most interesting results, however, have grown out of the subjugation of the Russian part of Poland. Whether from a mistrust of their own civilization, a conviction of their own irresistible force, or from a principle of sound policy, the Russian conquests have generally left to the conquered a great part of their former institutions. To the Poles they allowed most of their ancient privileges : satisfied with being the possessors, they did not aspire to the character of lawgivers of Poland. In truth they had no code for themselves, and were not very likely to frame one for their dependents. The Ukases of the Russian Autocrats were founded on, and modi- PREFACE. XXIII fied by, the ancient statutes of Poland. What the Poles suffered from Russia, was in the shape of individual oppression. Barbarous governors, fierce and brutal military and civil officers, — men, who to coarse and unformed manners added extreme ignorance and the most profligate corruption, — drove many of the leading Poles to revolt, whose estates were confiscated, and con- ferred by Catherine the Second on her favour- ites, as an encouragement to renewed acts of insolence and injustice. Strange page in the history of national vicissitude, that a people, to whom but a century and a half ago the com- monest utensil of luxury was unknown;- — whose princes and boyars at the wedding festival of their august Czar Demetrius, (according to the report of a Polish historian and eye-witness,) ate their food with their fingers, — a people whose earliest poet belonged only to the last genera- tion, — should have so rapidly increased in know- ledge and in power, as to take a leading part in all the political arrangements of Europe, to say nothing of Asia ! It is true they were led by XXIV PREFACE. their general (Suwarrow) to the classic land of Italy, and by their monarch to the luxurious capital of France. But some influence must have been at work, more powerful and perma- nent than the accidents of war ; and I am in- clined to believe, that to their intercourse with Poland we may trace much that is substantial and positive in their civilization. " The country which gave birth to Copernicus and Casimir," (I use the words of an estimable Polish friend,) " men not our pride only, but the pride of man- kind,— a country w T hose historians wrote a Li- vian Latin, — a country which had two celebrated academies at Cracow and Wilna, many learned seminaries, and schools in every parish, — must have been to Russia what Greece was to Rome, and have operated beneficially on the rude minds of those barbarous hordes, who had so long the Tartars for their masters, by whom they were not only oppressed, but despised." There are many who profess to believe that the form of government has little influence on the happiness of a people : and if it were possible to conceive PREFACE. XXV -that a nation could possess a wise and benevolent administration of justice, and a code of laws founded on the public weal, the name and cha- racter of the supremely dominant power would be a matter of little moment. But nothing can be worse than the chaos which exists in Poland. There law is any thing which may suit the dis- pensers of the law ; the ukase of to-day over- turns the ukase of yesterday ; and sanction car. be found for any decree whatever, out of some authority recognized in the Polish tribunals. The Constitutions of the Diet, the Jus Magde- burgensis, the Prussian and Austrian usages, the Code Napoleon, — each in its turn is applied to as an authority in all the " glory of that un- certainty," which to some has appeared a charm in the English system. Though the prospects of political melioration for Poland are remote and shadowy, yet this consolation is left, — that of any situation in which a chance of redemption has offered itself, the Poles have at all times availed themselves. They may have erred in their calculations; but they b XXVI PREFACE. have been prodigal of their existence wherever they indulged a hope. They have made great sacrifices ; and that is the best evidence of their sincerity. The improvement of the people is going on under a most extensive system of educa- tion : and while the history of Poland is present to the minds of Poles, it is impossible that a pa- triotic feeling should not grow up spontaneously. I shall be excused for quoting here the lan- guage of one of the most popular of the living authors of Poland (Niemcewicz), in his Śpiewy Historyczne (p. 437). He writes in a spirit of elo- quence worthy of his literary reputation, and of patriotism becoming the companion of the toils and of the exile of Kościuszko. " Though dis- cord and dissention may for a time have lulled the Poles into a lethargic indifference to their political situation, yet it cannot be doubted that their ancient free government led to the most striking display of undaunted courage and he- roic sacrifice for the defence of their laws and liberties, — to the display (if I may use the ex- pression) of the iron will to exist as a nation. PREFACE. With instances of this, our history is crowded. Even our nobility, who took every opportunity of increasing their power, and who opposed all taxation which affected themselves, — our nobi- lity, whenever the country was in danger, em- bodied numerous troops for its defence, and themselves defrayed the cost of the armament. When at the diet of Piotrków, in 1562, King Sigismund Augustus complained that the trea- sury had been so exhausted by the liberality of his predecessors, that he was without the means to resist the invasion of the Tartars and Muscovites ; the senate and deputies tore up in the presence of the king the grants of his ances- tors, so that many of the crown lands and Star- osties returned to the public funds. In our days we have ourselves witnessed with what ardent enthusiasm our youth gathered round the patriotic banners ; our villagers quitted the plough and armed themselves with scythes to repel the usurpers ; our old men brought forth the savings they had set apart for their days of infirmity ; our women devoted their ornaments b2 XXVIII PREFACE. to the cause of their expiring country. The love of that country is planted deep in the hearts of the Poles. Our forefathers devoted to it their best affections, for it was then a land of freedom and happiness ; — and their children love it still, intensely love it, because of its wrongs and its sorrows." These sentiments are as natural as they are noble :— and the pity which is felt for the individual victim of undeserved affliction, shall it not extend to a whole people ? Affection itself is strengthened by a sense of injury done to the beloved object ; and stoely if ever the plea of undeserved visitations could be put forward by a nation, the Poles are entitled to all the sympathy it can give birth to, and all the in- terest it can inspire. The Polish feeling must now be tracked through individual expression. It cannot influence masses : but the number of the Poles who at this moment dwell in voluntary exile from the land of their fathers ; the num- ber who may be tracked to the constitutional struggle in Spain, — to the last efforts of Italian resistance, — to the anti-Bourbonite armies of PREFACE. XXIX France, — and to the glorious Hellenic standard, — bear witness to what is thought, and what is hoped for, by patriot Poles. And in the mean time, what better wish can be breathed for the Polish people, than that they should go on improving in intellectual cultiva- tion, in happiness and virtue, — that their political annoyances may force them back upon the peace- ful and well-rewarded pursuits of literature; that they may find in their studies, — whose in- fluences Tully has so beautifully described, — a charm with which even his imaginative elo- quence failed to invest them, — a resource and a retreat from oppression '. 1 As illustrating the present state of literature in Poland, I subjoin a list of the periodical works now published, or which have been suppressed within a few years. At Warsaw: 1. Pamigtnik Warszawski. Warsaw Memoirs. 2. Ćwiczenia naukowe. Scientific Essayist — Literary and Mathematical. 3. Orzet bialy. White Eagle (Political) : suppressed. 4. Sybilla. Political and Moral. 5. Pamignitk muzyczny. Musical Memoirs. XXX PREFACE. 6. Urządzenia Rza,dowe. Transactions of the Govern- ment. 7. Kuria, Damski. At Wilna: 1. Dziennik Wileński. Wilna Journal. 2. Tygodnik Wileński. Wilna Weekly Magazine. 3. Pamigtnik Magnetyczny. Magnetic (Medical) Me- moirs. 4. Brukowe Wiadomości. News from the Pavement. A sportive weekly publication, written by a So- ciety of Wits, ridiculing under feigned names notorious characters. At Cracow: } . Pszczółka Krakowska. The Cracovian Bee. 2. Miscellanea Cracoviensia. A Latin Journal. At Leopol: (Lwów). Pamigtnik Lwowski. Leopol Memoirs ; now the Pszczółka Lwowska. The Leopolitan Bee. At Lublin : Gospodarskie Wiadoniósci. Agricultural Reports. At Polotzk: Miesięcznik Potocki. Pototsk Magazine. Published by the Jesuits, but suppressed at the suppression of their order. There was also a periodical published in the Grand Dutchy of Poznań, and another at Krzemieniec in Volhynia. CONTENTS. Page Language and Literature of Poland .... 1 Kochanowski 45 Szymonowicz 6? Zimorowicz 83 Sarbiewski 95 Gawiński Ill Krasicki 119 We,gierski 135' Niemcewicz 143 Brodziński 173 Lach Szyrma 219 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE OF POLAND. X hough Greek and Roman authors frequently give the name of Sarmatians to the whole of the Sclavonic tribes, yet it is probable that the ancient Poles were more particularly entitled to, as they afterwards al- most exclusively obtained, that designation. By the Russians they are frequently called Lachi, from Lech (an old Bohemian word signifying free or noble), and they have obtained the name of Poles, according to their historians, from Pole (a plain), as descriptive of the level character of their country. The extent of the population of Poland is thus es- timated by Dr. Schaffarik. In the second partition of 1793, Littavia and the Ukraine contained 4,148,000 inhabitants, transferred to Russia. Prussia took B 2 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE Gross-Poland with Thorn and Danzig, comprising 1,136,000 souls; — and 3,512,000 remained to the Polish Republic. In the third and final partition in 1795, Russia, besides Courland and Semgallia, seized the rest of Littavia and Little Poland as far as the Bog, with 1,177,000 inhabitants. Prussia obtained 940,000 additional subjects, and Austria 1,038,000. The pre- sent disposition of the Polish nation is about as fol- lows : 1,500,000 directly under the sway of Russia; 3,500,000 compose the Russian kingdom of Poland ; about 3,000,000 belong to Austria in Gallicia and East Silesia ; and nearly 2,000,000 acknowledge the Prussian domination. The free city of Cracow has 100,000 inhabitants. — Calculating the whole Polish population at ten millions, about half a million are Lutherans, and the rest Roman Catholics. The Polish language is a dialect of the Sclavonian, which, with some remarkable varieties, is spoken throughout Russia, Bohemia, Moravia, Servia, and in some parts of Germany, Prussia, Hungary, and Turkey. It is decidedly that branch which has been most acted on by external circumstances, and has therefore been properly called the youngest daugh- ter of the Sclavonian parent. The connexion of Po- OF POLAND. 3 land with the politics and the literature of the South, served to modify and to modernize its idiom. Simi- larity of religious faith brought the Poles into con- tact with their Catholic European brethren ; and the adoption of the Roman alphabet, — an alphabet little adapted to Sclavonic peculiarities, — removed some of the apparent difficulties in the study of the Polish tongue. The Russian, the Servian, and some other branches of the original root, have been less in- fluenced by intercourse with remote and highly civi- lized nations. The writings of Rey of Nagłowic, and Kochanowski in the sixteenth century, fixed the cha- racter of the Polish idiom, and since that period it can hardly be said to have been in any considerable degree improved. The manuscripts and monuments prior to that epoch bear a language, in which it is only possible to trace the Sclavonic root, while all the inflections of nouns and verbs are too various and too uncertain to be reducible to any given rule, and the orthography appears to have been wholly unsettled. At last the Bohemian style of writing was adopted, and the Polish language encumbered with numerous consonants, whose combinations were meant merely to supply the simple and single letters of the Scla- b 2 4? LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE vonic alphabet. This has given to the written lan- guage of Poland a strange and repelling appearance, though in itself it is no evidence of harshness, but only of the great difficulty found in accommodating four- and-twenty Latin letters to six-and-thirty Sclavonian sounds. And after all, the attempt to adapt the Roman alphabet to the Polish language has imperfectly suc- ceeded, though various devices have been adopted in order to convey those peculiarities of pronunciation which belong to the Sarmatian tribes. The nasal sound is given to the vowels a and e by an attached cedilla, a n e t : iada i (they depart) is pronounced as a Frenchman would pronounce iadont ; he t de k (I shall be), as if it were bindin in French. Bantkie divides the language of Poland into six dialects. That of Gross Poland, distinguished by the peculiar pronunciation of the o and ie ; — the Mazurian, in which the z and z', the cz and c, the sz and s are confounded ; — that of Little Poland, whose varieties are principally seen in the grammatical construction and confusion of genders ; — the Littavian, which has many Russianisms ; — the Prussian, which is a Ger- manized Polish where the peculiarities of the two letters o' and a! are not observed ; — and the Silesian, OF POLAND. 5 which has a singularly nasal pronunciation, and is much blended with the Bohemian idiom. Among the consonants, The Russian By the Poles X • • is written ch .... (guttural) 4. . . cz .... (ch in church). Ill • • sz (sh in shall). IXJ . . szcz . . . (shch). jK • • rz (French j). ■«y n mouillee in the Ab ' ' ! ■« Italian gl. Jrl b • • n' Italian gn. Kb C b c' (c mouillee). Cb 3b — — s' 0? mouillee). 3b • • z ' ( z mouillee). The Polish language is singularly rich in its modi- fications of both vowel and consonant sounds. It pos- sesses among its vowels a, a! and a i ; e, e f and e t ; o and o', all obviously distinguished from one another. Among its consonants, b and h' ; c, c' and cz ; I and ł ; 6 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE m and m f ; n and ri ; p and jp r ; r and rz ; $, s f and sz; w and w f ; z, z' and z\ independently of the many modifications of sound produced by a great variety of compound formations. It is the most difficult, while it is the most polished, of the Sclavonic languages. A remarkable peculiarity of the Polish language is, that the accent always falls on the penultimate ; as, chłopiec (boy), woda (water) ; except in words of foreign origin. In words of three syllables the ac- cent is on the middle syllable, as iezioro (lake), niec- nota (rogue). In words of four syllables the accents are alternately long and short, as, sprawiedliwy (just), ogłoszenie (advertisement). In polysyllabic words the general rule applies to the penultimate, though there is more variety in the pronunciation of the pre- vious syllables. It results from these observations that there are few Iambic verses in Polish ; nothing but monosyllabic words being available for their pro- duction, but dactyls and trochees are easily formed. Rhythmus, especially in compositions for music, is at- tended to by the poets of Poland, who have adopted a considerable variety of versification. The most com- mon measures are lines of eight, eleven, and thirteen syllables. The caesura is not used when the quantity is OF POLAND. 7 less than eight syllables. In verses of ten syllables the caesura divides them in the middle ; in those of eleven, it follows the fifth ; in those of twelve, the seventh syllable. It is a curious fact, that the same unchanging cha- racter of accent attaches to another of the Sclavonic idioms : but while in Polish the penultimate is always long, in the Bohemian dialect the first syllable is invariably so. The great variety of accentuation in the Russian branch gives* it great superiority over the former for the purposes of poetry. A few ex- amples will show how perfectly certain Polish words characterize the idea they convey. They are striking adaptations of sound to sense. Grzmot, Thunder. Dz'dzy sie ń It rains. Brzmi, Vibrating string. Chichotać, Suppressed laughter. Chucha, Blowing on the fingers. Tentent, Horses trampling. Szelest lisci, Leaves rustling. The two best writers on the prosody of the Polish language are Kopczyński, who has treated of it in 8 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE the third volume of his Grammar, and Nowaczynski in his O Prozodyi i Harmonii jeżyka Polskiego. It is clear, that as the accent in all Polish words falls on the antepenultimate, no iambics, pyrrhics, or spon- dees, can be formed of polysyllabic words. Yet the Poles have introduced all these measures by employ- ing monosyllabic words and blending them with poly- syllables. The translations of Homer's Iliad, both by Dmochowski and Przybylski, are in Alexandrine verses, and generally close with a dactyl and trochee : as, Achil\ld spie\way mu\zo gniew\zgubny co\szkody. These translations are all in rime. The attempts to introduce blank verse have failed in Poland. Ossa- linski's Works have some reputation ; — but the blank verse of Minasowicz and Nowaczynski seems to have decided the banishment of this species of poetry. The manner of scanning Polish verses is as follows : Pan i e | I ani e W kaz'dym | stanie Zyskać I moz'na My' si o | stroz'na. Krasicki, II. 277. OF POLAND. Lew zjddl \\ bj/l \ wold \a. Ibid. p. 51. Strach do \\ o kola Chawlcie \ Pana | z dobro \ ci je \ go nie I pr zebra \ ney Chawlcie \ z lito \ s' ci wie \kom z f a\dnymni \epodda \ney. Kochanowski, Ps. 96. There are a number of writers on the language of Poland, among whom I would mention Zaborowski, Stoienski, Volkmar, Meninski, Malicki, Hoffmann, Knapski, Szyovia, Kwiatkowski, Bliwernitz, Rybin'- ski, Czerski and Bobrow T ski, who have written in Latin. Januszowski, Kopczyn'ski, Nowaczyn'ski, Szum- ski, Bohomolca, Mrozin'ski, Kleczewski, Brodzin'- ski, Ma,czynski, Bohusz, Woronowski, Kondrato- wicz, Poticki, Ciechoniewski, Dantyska, Linde, Wy- szomirski, Litwiński and Troianski, in Polish. Roter, Dobracki, Ernesti, Malczowski, Raphaeli, Rohrmann, Mullenheim, Schlag, Trotz, Kaalfuss, Muller, Moneta, Woyna, Mrongovius, Adamowicz, Stawski, Kassius, Bucki, Kutsch,,Vater, Bantkie and Grotke, in German. Trajbczyn'ski, Malicki, and Troc, in French ; and Kondratowicz in Russian. b 5 10 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE The introduction of Christianity into Poland, which doubtless gave a great impulse to civilization, had an unfortunate influence on the Polish tongue. The Latin became the representative and the organ of the new faith ; and as its teachers were almost without exception strangers, they gave considerable currency to the language they employed. The Polish language was deemed heathenish and vulgar, and this preju- dice continued down to the sixteenth century, until when, scarcely any work of reputation had been writ- ten in any other language than Latin. Had the Greek instead of the Roman church obtained predomi- nance in Poland, very different would have been the influence on its language and literature. But no doubt the Benedictine monks assisted the advance of civilization, by devoting themselves from the begin- ning of the eleventh century, assiduously to the in- struction of the young. To the establishment of the Cracow University in 1347, the progress of knowledge and the cultivation of the arts may be distinctly traced. About two hundred years afterward, that of Wilna was created ; and in the following century John Zamoyski founded the College of Zamos'c'. The tolerant spirit of OF POLAND. 11 Sigismund the First, Sigismund Augustus, and Ste- phan Bathory, was friendly to inquiry and to that improvement which is the result of inquiry. The first book printed in Poland was the Cracow Ca- lendar, in 1490. In 1491 Swantspolt Fiol published a Polish Osmoglasnik in Sclavonic letters, which was condemned by the Inquisition. In the sixteenth cen- tury almost every considerable town had a printing press ; and the subsequent activity of the literary spi- rit in Poland may be estimated from the fact that the Zaluskan Library (lately removed to Petersburg) contained more than twenty thousand works in Polish, The first periodical in Poland was printed in 1764. The most popular work on the literature of Po- land is Bentkowski's History a Litter atury PolsJciey, in two volumes. A more detailed history is now in progress entitled, Wiadomości History czno-Kry tyczne do dzieiów Litter atury Polskiey, by Ossoliński. Bant- kie, an author of great repute, has also published a literary history of Poland. Many interesting notices of Polish authors will be found in Janocki's Biblioteca Polonica. The following Hymn is the earliest specimen of the Polish language now extant. 12 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE Ptesn 38op Eatyica* li5ogarot)5ica t>5tetoica 5 bogiem slatoiona ^atrpa ! u ttoego §>£tta t)O0pot>Ena ^atfeo 3toolona d^atca steel nam> 0pu0ci nam i&itrie elepson ttoego j&pna ttrsciciela 3bo?n£ c^as* 3Htel£S3 giosp napełnię mpoii csiotoiecse : jgtfgss motility ien$e eie prosimy Co t>ac t ac?£, iego?' ptoisimp : 2Dat? na sioiecie 3bo?'nt> pobpt, f&o yctoocie l&apsfct pr^eb^t &me elewom 3Ruy nam c?a0^ got>?ina> gr$ecljoto 0ie &aiaci H5ogu ct)toale naci ^e hamerni silami Boga miiotoaci* OF POLAND. 13 PIESN BOGA RODZICA. Bogarodzica dziewica. Bogiem sławiona Marya! u twego Syna, Pana> Malko z laski Boz'ey Marya, zis'c' nam, spus'c' nam Kyrie ^eleison twego Syna Chrzciciela £)oboz'ny czas. Usłysz głosy, napetniy mys'li człowiecze. Słysz modlitiwe, ie t cza t c cie, prosimy, To dac f raczy, iegoz' prosimy : Day na s'wiecie pohoz f ny pobyt, Po z'ywocie Rayski przebyt, Kyrie eleison. 7p 7fc Tjy 7fc •/(: ^ 7f! TpT Juz' nam czas, godzina, grzechów sie, Kaiac' Bogn chwale, dac', Ze wszysklkich sit Boga miłować'. 14 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE japarpa tyizioita, pxozi j§)tma otoego itroia jffridueskiego 3db£ nas uctjatooi one to^go 3legtoienct proście, m$ gt5e05^cl) tospomo3'cie ; 1IIS£0m£ 3 toami pt3ebt>ii 3le?u Crista c^toaitlu Cego3 nas Homiest 3!e3u Cijtpste miłe H5t?0m£ 3 tobo bpli (BH31C 0ie nam ranujo 1113 ntebieafei Slip, atmen, SUmcn, %mzn y Staen, atmen, 3taen, tafco 30og nap learnt? to03Wi> POJ53W to IRac ■ d£t>3ie Ikroittio Ktnieiu 1 .Raz/ (Paradise). It is very remarkable that the Sclavo- nians should have adopted the word, of their old mythology for OF POLAND. 15 Marya dziewiac pros' Syna swego, Króla Niebieskiego, Aby nas uchował od wszelkiego złego. Wszyscy S'wie,ci pros'c'ie, Nas grzesznych wspomożecie ; Bys'my z wami przebywać Jezusa Chrystusa chwalili. Tegoż' nam dopus'c* Jezusie Chrystusie miły Bys'my z toba /4 byli, Gdzie sie, nam raduia, iuz' Niebieskie siły. Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, tak Bóg day, Bys'my wszyscy poszli w Ray *, Gdzie Kroluia, Anieli. the Christian heaven. Rays he iablka (apples of paradise) is frequently employed in popular tales and songs. 16 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE I have given the music to which the foregoing hymn was sung, from a MS. believed to be of the twelfth century, adding the modern notes for the better un- derstanding of the same. It is a remarkable fact, that this extraordinary composition is still employed in the church where lie the ashes of St. Adelbert, in Gniezno, the capital of Poland before Cracow received that di- stinction ; and at the church of Dombrowa near Kola, on the river Wasta, where the saint was a beneficed abbot l . In order to compare the changes which the Polish language has undergone in the course of nine centuries, a modernized version has been given on the opposite side. Niemcewicz publishes it among his Polish songs, stating that he had himself heard it at Gniezno in 1812. It has all the characters of the 1 Christianity was introduced into Poland by the Bohemians and Germans, about the ninth century. Its first Christian king was Mieczysław, who was baptized in 965. The Bohe- mian branch of the Sclavonic has fragments of poetry far more ancient than any thing possessed by the Poles. The use of rime so universal in Italy (which was the school of the poets of Poland) was soon introduced among them. Nowaczyn'ski, Opaliński and others, have endeavoured to introduce the Greek and Latin measures ; but the fetters of rime seem permanently to have enchained the poetic spirit of the Vistula. OF POLAND. 17 monkish composition of the middle ages, and has been supplanted by one of them, — O gloriosa Domina. A beautiful imitation of this hymn will be found among Casimir's Odes, beginning Diva per latas celebrata terras, Rakowieski \ who believes the poem to be of high antiquity, is not disposed to allow this copy to be of older date than the fourteenth century. Other me- trical compositions are mentioned by Bielski and Długosz ; but as the Latin language was alone em- ployed by the writers of that age, little of the popular Polish poetry escaped the scorn and neglect with which it was regarded by those who could alone pre- serve it from oblivion by committing it to writing. The popular poetry of any country occupies one of the most interesting parts of the field of literature, and has always the recommendation of that simplicity which approves itself to the general — the universal mind. In the preface to the collection of Polish Songs which has been published by Niemcewicz, he remarks, that " Music exerts a mighty influence on 1 Prawda ruska, ii. 211 — 12. 18 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE the memory and the affections of man. Before the aera of Herodotus, who may be deemed the father of national history, the achievements and the vicissi- tudes of remoter times had been conveyed in songs from father to son* Men do not easily lose what they fondly cherish ; and though nations may be anni- hilated by oppression, and the monuments of their heroes razed by the jealousy, the timidity, or the barbarism of conquerors, no power can silence the song in which the mother tells her child the history of his country, and associates the name of that country with his earliest and strongest affections. The captive Israelites wandered by the waters of Babylon, they wandered, but wept when they thought of their native Jordan ; they celebrated their country and their fa- thers in mournful strains ; but they triumphed at last over their sorrows and over their victors, and re- gained their own beloved land, because they had not forgotten it, because they had made it the ever present subject of their thoughts, their hopes, their exer- tions. 5 ' But though the historians of Poland have referred to the metrical compositions of the people, nothing except the foregoing hymn has been spared of a date OF POLAND. 19 anterior to the fifteenth century. The Catholic reli- gion, which introduced and established the use of Latin, was necessarily unfriendly to the national lite- rature. Ecclesiastics were the only authors, and Latin the only language used. The original of the following Song exists only in the Sclavonico-Polish dialect, as spoken in Volhynia. It is of very great antiquity. THE THREE FOUNTAINS. There are three stars in the heaven's blue deep, And brightly they shine, though silently ; On the plain three silver fountains leap r And there stood beside them ladies three, — A wife, a widow, a virgin maid ; And thus to the rippling streams they said, 20 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE The wife hung over the fount, and there Pour'd from her hand its waters clear : " Wave of the fountain ! counsel me : Do I a husband's love possess ; Will fondness and fidelity- Bring me the flowers of happiness ? " " O yes ! while in Virtue's path thou art, Bliss shall thine and thy husband's be : Should thy faith wax cold, and be false thy heart, Thine shall be shame and misery." Lonely and gloomy the widow stood, And mingled her tears with the gushing flood. " Sorrow is mine ! for what dark deed Am I forced to wander alone below ; Has God, to punish my sins, decreed That mine should be helpless, hopeless woe ? " " Rise, widow, rise with the dawn of day, Dry up thy tears and thy woes forget, OF POLAND, 21 And pray to the River-God ! , — humbly pray, And he shall give thee a husband yet." At the neighbouring fountain sigh'd the maid, And she took a wreath of flowers from her head. 11 The streams flow on, and the wild- winds sweep, — River-God ! give me a husband soon ; Clung to his bosom let me sleep, And mine be the bright and blessed boon." " Fling not thy wreath in the stream, fair maid ! A noble youth shall be given to thee ; Soon thou shalt marriage-garlands braid, And many the days of thy joy shall be." 1 The original word is Bog, which means at the same time God and river. The river Bog was worshipped by the ancient Sclavonians, and still retains its sacred name. — The three foun- tains are the springs or sources of the river which empties it- self into the Euxine. 22 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE OLD LITHUANIAN SONG. Przez lasy iodlowe Przez lasy świerkowe. Through the pine-trees' darksome woods, Through the fir-groves' solitudes, On my piebald steed I come, Hurrying to her mother's home : — " Mother, hail ! " — ' Thou 'rt welcome now To my cottage lone and low.' " Tell me, mother ! tell me where I may seek my cherish'd fair ! " 8 In yon chamber dark and still Lies thy lovely maiden ill, Restless on the green-rob'd bed.' Hapless youth ; with gentle tread O'er the yard I swiftly glide, Lingering on the threshold side : OF POLAND. 23 There I wiped my tears, and took Her white hand with gentlest look ; — " Lovely sufferer ! flower of spring ! Time sweet remedy shall bring." ■ Call me — call me thine no more, Soon life's short remains are o'er ; I within my grave shall lie, Thou thy flowing tears must dry ; Thou wilt come and see me home To my solitary tomb : Crowds of maidens shall be there, Feeling joy, but feigning care. One with rosy cheeks shall be Even then beloved by thee ; She shall bear away thy kiss, — What a bliss ! O what a bliss ! ' 24 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE POPULAR OLD LITHUANIAN SONG. Ke/3y w ogródku kwitły Tymiany. To the garden where bloom the bright flow'rets of spring, , To Marina's fair garden, the villagers bring Their cheeks which are fair as the blush of the flowers, And give to sweet converse the sociable hours. " But why dost thou lean on thy hand, lovely maid ! And why do dark tears thy mild visage o'erspread ? Thy heart should be anchor 'd 'gainst misery's shock, For thy life is as pure as the spring from the rock." ' Though my heart might be anchor'd 'gainst mi- sery's shock, Though my life be as pure as the spring from the rock ; Yet sadness is mine, for the sun-beams descend, And the spring of existence rolls on to its end. Look ! in the green court-yard a sister appears, A garland that 's wreath'd for the altar she wears ; OF POLAND. 25 But the ever-green wreath has its dew-drops of tears, — How long shall I walk in the spring of my years ? Sweet flowers ! ye will bend your fair heads in the dell; My mother, — my sister, — my brother, — farewell ! ' These two Songs are published, though they are from the Lithuanian dialect. The fate of that coun- try was for centuries closely connected with Poland, — their histories are blended, — their habits and their superstitions are similar, — so that I shall be excused for introducing them here. Bentkowski l divides the literary history of Poland into very distinct epochas. I. From the introduction of Christianity to the time of Casimir the Great, A.D. 964 — 1333. II. From Casimir to Sigismund the First, A.D. 1333—1506. III. From Sigismund the First to the establishment of the Cracovian Jesuit schools in 1622. IV. From thence to the formation and improve- 1 Literat. Polsk. 162—176. c 26 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE ment of the national literary taste under Stanislaus Konarski in 1760 : and, V. From Konarski to our days. The first period is filled by a few Latin chro- niclers, and the Polish language was gradually created out of its Latin, German, and Sclavonian roots. Casimir the Great patronized its employment ; and the discussions which the patrons of the Reformation excited in Bohemia in the fifteenth century sensibly influenced the literature of Poland, and led to the cultivation and rapid improvement of the Polish tongue. At this time the Poles abandoned the Scla- vonic alphabet and adopted the Latin : — a very un- fortunate circumstance, as the Latin alphabet is very ill adapted for the communication of Sclavonic sounds, — while its use has veiled the origin, and confused the etymology of words. Up to this period the Polish idiom had preserved its different accents, and the har- monious variety of prosody which still exists in some other of the Sclavonian branches. A translation of the Bible into Polish was made by command of Queen Hedwig in 1,390 *. A few reli- 1 Count Potocki doubts this •,— -no copy certainly exists, though the fact is mentioned by competent authorities. A OF POLAND. 27 gious works, among which is a translation of one of Wickliffe's hymns, some translations of Polish laws, and one or two uninteresting productions, appeared prior to the sixteenth century, — a century which must be deemed the brightest period of the literary annals of Poland. The Polish language then became the language of the court, of literature, and of polite society. Sigismund Augustus required the laws of Poland to be circulated in the language of the people, and himself used no other. Translations of the an- cient classics, and of the most distinguished moderns, were circulated extensively ; and the poets of Poland, of whom Rey of Nagłowic must be deemed the ear- liest, follow in an unbroken line from the middle of the sixteenth century downwards. In the limits of a small volume, — even if I possessed — which I do not — the means of access to all the needful authori- ties, — it is impossible to record the names and works and history of so numerous a band. I must refer to translation of the Psalms spoken of by Czacki is believed to have been part of this version ; — and as Sophia the third wife of Jagiełło possessed a complete Polish bible in 1430 (of which see a description in Niemcewicz's Zbiór pamiętników), it is pro- bable this was a copy of Queen Hed wig's translation. c2 28 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE the authors I quote, in order to fill up the chasms I am compelled to leave. Independently of the Poets of whom specimens are given in this volume, — not chosen in every case ac- cording to the renown of the Polish author, but some- times in deference to the taste of the English reader, and sometimes because other original matter has not been accessible to me, — I feel it right barely to glance over the names and reputation of some of those of the Polish poets from whose writings I have hitherto made no translations, but whom to pass over with- out mention would be a great injustice to their fame J . Rey of Nagłowic is the father of Polish poetry. Before him nothing is at all interesting but what is anonymous, and that only in fragments. He ap- peared at a time when the philosophy of the schools was openly attacked, and when some sort of pre- 1 It becomes me to state that I owe a great debt of obliga- tion to my friend Lach Szyrma, not only for the information afforded by his Letters on Poland, but for his epistolary and personal communications ; all marked by urbanity, friendship, good taste, information, and patriotism. OF POLAND. 29 paration had been made for the removal of old pre- judices, and for the introduction of a popular feel- ing. His condensed truisms are frequently quoted by the people. But except when he communicates some moral aphorism, he is diffuse and tedious. He was however patronized and enriched by Sigis- mund Augustus, and obtained high distinctions from his countrymen. He translated the Psalms, but is best known by his Honest Man's Mirror, of which I have not been able to obtain a copy. Sebastian Klonowicz, better known by the name of Acernus, was the contemporary of Rey of Nag- łowic. His verses are vulgar and licentious ; and he died obscurely and miserably, in a parish work- house. He wrote both in Latin and Polish, but his works are now seldom to be met with. His Im- promptu when he was flattered with the title of the Sarmatian Ovid, has been frequently quoted : Nasonis Sulmo patria est, Sulmircia nobis Nosque póetastri, Naso poeta fuit. which has much modesty, and a little point in the re- semblance between the names of the birth-places of the Roman and the Pole. 30 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE To this period belong Rybin'ski, who published a volume of poems in Thorn ; Czahrowski, who hav- ing attached himself to the party of King Maximilian was forced to seek an asylum in- Hungary, where he printed his Rzeczy rozmaite ; Grochowski arch- bishop of Lemberg (ob. 1644) author of thirty-two Polish works, among which his Wiersze are remark- able for their sweetness and correctness of diction. Miaskowski, the best religious poet of Poland ; Zab- czyc, a writer of songs, satires, and epigrams ; Pe- trycy (ob. 1629), the translator of Aristotle and Ho- race ; S. A. Z by lit ow ski, a didactic and satiric poet ; Bielski (born 1496, died 1579), less renowned for his satirical verses than for his merit as an historian. Paprocki of Glogol wrote a variety of heraldic, ge- nealogical and historical works in wearying rime. Stryikowski (born 1549) printed a mass of elegies, bucolics, laments, &c. The epoch which produced the Kochanowskis and others, the most illustrious of the Polish writers, was .... succeeded by an age of theological disputation, in which the language and literature of Poland were neglected for monkish Latin and monkish lethargy. The anarchical reign of John Casimir which followed OF POLAND. 31 the polemical controversies of that of Sigisrnund the Third, brought shoals of invaders from Sweden, Rus- sia, and Tartary, whose presence added to the cor- ruptions with which the Jesuits had long been destroy- ing the Polish tongue. The writings of the early and middle part of the seventeenth century are alike pedantic in pretence, inelegant in style, and frivolous in purpose. A few writers appear, who, could they have subdued — as they were subdued by — the evil in- fluence of the age, might have greatly elevated the literary reputation of their country. Twardowski (born 1600, died 1660) was secretary to the Polish legation at Constantinople, and wrote two Polish epics, Władysław and Woyna domowa ; his other works are Legacya, WiadyslawIV., Pamief t Alexandra Karola Królewicza, Paląc Leszczyńskich Woyna Kosacka, Woyna domowa s Kozaki^ Nadobna Pasqualina (from the Spanish) Daphnis. His smaller poems are collected under the title of Zbiór rytmów, and his larger under that of Miscellanea selecta. Bia- lobocki published several poetical works. Kochowski, one of the best of the lyric poets of Poland, who died at the end of the seventeenth century, printed his Lyricorum Polskich, Christus cierpa t cy, Ogród pani- 32 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE en ski, Dzieło boskie, Różaniec, and a collection of Polish epigrams. Chros'cin'ski, the secretary of Prince Jacob Sobiewski was a prolific writer, who translated Lucan's Pharsalia into octo-syllabic rimes, versified much of the bible history, and published the Rymy duchowne, Trafia sławy Jana III., Zbiór zabaw duchownych, and other works. Janus Korybut Prince Wi 'sniowiecki wrote a num- ber of lyrics in which he wholly omitted the letter r, founding the conceit on the circumstance that the r was to him an unpronounceable letter. Libicki translated Horace's Odes, and Zembrowski Ovid's Metamorphoses. Prince Lubominki's rank rather than his talents obtained for him the title of the Polish Solomon. He died in 1702. His works are ; Classicum nies r miertelnśy, Musa Polska, the Ec- clesiastes in verse, Melody a duchowna, and Proznos'c* i prawda. Leszczyński (ob. 1705) wrote Chocim, an historical poem. Prince Jabłonowski translated part of Tacitus, and described in verse Uprowadzenie woyska z cies'ni Bukowskiey. The epigrams of Po- tocki, the time of whose death is uncertain, rank among the happiest productions of Poland. Bard- ziński made another translation of Lucan, and Opa- OF POLAND. 33 lin' ski, the Woiwode of Posen, who died in 1655, wrote fifty-two satires in hexameter measure, in the manner of Juvenal and Persius. The following poets be* long to this epoch, though their works are not de- serving any special mention. Dzwonów ski, Bratkow- ski, Falibogowski, De t bole t cki, Szymonowski, Obodna Obodzin'ski, Kwiatkowski, Morsztyn, S. Poniatowski, Jagodyn f ski, Chelkowski, and Ignes. Stanislaus Konarski must be deemed the regenera- tor of the literature of his country. Not only by his own elaborate writings but by his great exertions in the promotion of education, he gave a new impulse to improvement, and established a renovating aera in the intellectual cultivation of Poland. King Stanislaus Augustus, alike a philosopher and a patron of phi- losophy, gave an example of encouragement to men of letters, which soon influenced the aristocracy, and widely communicated his fostering and protecting spirit. Almost every species of learning found pro- motion, and the Polish language especially began to be cultivated and enriched by the industry and genius of a numerous band of national authors. The district schools spread themselves over the country, and the Polish tongue became the instrument of legislation c 5 34 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE and the representative of political reform. The vicis- situdes of hope and fear, — the vibrations between ex- tinction and national existence, which in the latter half of the last century agitated the Polish people, — communicated a strange excitement to inquiry, and awakened all the dormant spirit of the nation. The Association of the Friends of Knowledge in Warsaw (1801) led to most interesting discussions on popular topics, and the establishment of the Grand Dukedom of Warsaw (1807-1812) rekindled the old dreams of patriotic excitement. More than six hundred central schools existed at the beginning of the present century. At this hour there exist in Poland the Warsaw, the Lemberg, and Cracow universities, eleven palatine schools in the eight Woicwodeships, fourteen princi- pal department schools (szkoły wydziałowe), and nine for subdepartments ; two lyceums, twelve gymna- siums, and innumerable elementary and private esta- blishments for education 1 . The union and sympathy which have existed be- tween France and Poland have had a very obvious in- fluence on the language and literature of the latter 1 SchafFarik, 452, 3. OF POLAND. 35 country. The employment of the French tongue — almost universally taught in Poland — has introduced many Gallicisms : and though by a natural and neces- sary consequence something has been added to the richness and variety of the Polish idiom, it has lost much of its peculiar and national character. The master-works of Southern Europe have, however, shed their best influence on Poland, since scarcely any author of distinguished reputation is now r un- known to the Poles. Naruszewicz is the most distinguished of the prose writers of Poland. His History l of that country in six volumes, Historya narodu Polskiego (including merely the period of the Piast dynasty) has furnished 1 The oldest Polish chronicles are that of Prokosz, Kronika Polska przez Prokosza w wieku x napisana, z dodatkami z kroniki Kagnimira pisarza wieku xi. That of Martin Gallus, A.D. 1110 — 35 ; of Matthew bishop of Cracow, ob. 1166 ; of Vincent Kad- łubek, 1 223 ; Boguphalus bishop ofPosen, 1 253 ; Godzislaw Paszko, 1273; Martin Strzembski, 1279; Dzirswa, 1420; Sigimund Bo» sitzius, 1470; John Duglosz, 1415 — 80; Matthew of Mieehoiv, and Martin Cromer, 1512 — 89. The later Polish historians are StryikowsM, Sarnicki, Koi- aiowicz, Lubieński, Świecki, Pandtkie, and Miklaszewski.-— Schaf- farik, p. 403. It is much to be desired that a History of Poland should be introduced to English literature from these original sources. 36 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE much matter to Karamsin, who quotes him with ap- probation in his History of Russia. But his works are full of the servility and flattery so characteristic of his time. Though educated by the Jesuits, and one of their order, he ventured to resist their authority by using the Polish language for his compositions. He did much for the reformation of the Polish taste, though frequently opposed and thwarted by ecclesi- astical interference. He wrote satires, bucolics, and short didactic poems, and translated Horace, Ana- creon, and some of the Odes of Pindar. He rendered Tacitus into Polish with extraordinary success. He was born in 1733 and died in 1796. Kniaznin was the contemporary of Naruscewicz. He also received his early education from the Jesuits, — an education wasted, as he himself declares, in pro- fitless trifles. Kniaznin's lyrics are among the very best of Polish compositions. All his writings are po- etical, and full of gay and joyous feeling, which is said to have been remote from the habitual character of his mind. His longest poem is a ludicrous heroic called The Balloon. He died, it is said, like Tasso, the victim of a hopeless passion for an elevated, opu- lent, and inaccessible beauty. OF POLAND, 37 Symanowski died in 1803. His poetry, though sweet and flowing, has all the artificial character of the French school, and will therefore give no idea of the national poetry of the Poles. It has no one of the peculiarities of Sclavonic song. The Temple of Gnidos is his principal poetical work ; besides which, he published Pastorals and minor pieces, and translated some of Montesquieu's writings.— Tański resembles Symanowski in many respects, but his writings are principally dramatic. Dmochowski (born 1762, died 1808) is most known as the translator of the Iliad 1 and the iEneid, of several parts of Milton, and of Young's Night Thoughts. He published one didactic poem, an Ars Poetica. Trembecki (who died in 1812) poured out the over- flowings of poetical flattery on the great during his early youth, and soon retired from the world in dis- gust, to solitary meditation. In the latter days of his life his abode was filled with swallows and sparrows, 1 There are other Polish translations of Homer, viz, those of Przybylski and Staszyc, 38 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE who dwelt with him, and built their nests, and reared their offspring unmolested, in the very room where he indulged his misanthropy. His principal work, the Zqfiiowska, a contemplative poem, has been trans- lated into French by the Count La Garde. Of Elizabetha Druzbacka, the author of the Let- ters on Poland says, " She had no learned education, but was the gifted child of Nature. Her native lan- guage, for she knew no other, breathes sweetly in her harmonious, unpretending mellow strain." Her poem on Spring commences : " O golden season! in child-like guise. Thou gladdening spring ! Again thou comest, and lovely are thy smiles. Every thing becomes thy playful innocence, whether to revive with warmth or chill with cold. Who would chide thee, when in thy hours of play, thou, with child-like frolic, now makest the green grass come forth, and then hidest it with a mantle of snow." Minasowicz (born in 1718, died in 1796) was the translator of Martial, Phaedrus, Lucan, and of many of the Odes of Horace, and the author of voluminous original compositions. OF POLAND. 39 Gur ski's Różne dzielą wierszem i proza, contains a great number of Odes, Idyls, Fables, and Plays. Nagurczewski (nat. 1719, ob. 1811) translated the Philippics of Demosthenes, Cicero's Orations, Vir- gil's Eclogues, a great part of Homer, — all character- ized by a thorough understanding of the ancient lan- guages, but little dexterity in the use of his own. Przybylski enriched the literature of his country by admirable translations of the Lamentations of Je- remiah, the Works of Ovid, Gessner's Abel, Camoens' Luciad, Milton's Paradise Lost, the iEneid, the Iliad, and Odyssey. Osin! ski published a volume of Lyrics entitled Zbiór zabawek wierszem. He rendered into Polish Corneille's Cid and Cinna, some of the dramatic pro- ductions of Voltaire, Chenier, and other French poets. Koz'mian's didactic poem O Ziemian 'stwie ranks high in public reputation. Karpiński is a writer of great originality, and is 40 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE known to Europe by the German translations of many of his pastoral pieces. He translated the Psalms with great correctness and force, also Delille's " Jar- dins," and published many dramatic pieces. Woronicz, the present bishop of Cracow, is re- nowned for the eloquence of his sermons, and the high tone of his historical poetry. His principal work is Asarmot (Piesn! Assarmota), an epic poem on the origin of the Sarmatians or Poles : — but " The Sibyl," which summons the ancient monarchs of Poland to look out from their tombs on the desolation of the land they once ruled over in its prosperity, and the " Diet of Wieslica" are the most popular of his poeti- cal compositions. Wenzyk and KropinsJci should be mentioned as two of the best of the Polish tragic poets. The Gliński and the Boleslav l of the former, are the two finest tragedies in the language. He also wrote a descriptive poem on the " Neighbourhood of Cracow." Kro- pinski's tragedy of Ludgarda is his best known work. Tomaszewski is an agricultural epic poet. His OF POLAND. 41 prominent works are Jagellonida (a history of the kings of the Jagellonian dynasty), and a volume enti- tled " Polish Georgics." Kruszyn' ski has translated the Odes of Pope from the English, and of Thomas from the French ; the Satires of Boileau and the Britannicus of Racine : and Morawski has rendered several other dramatic pieces out of French into Polish. The verses of Feliński (who died in 1820) are graceful, harmonious, and flowing. He translated Ra- cine's Phedra, Delille's Homme des Champs. Hodani (ob. 1823 rendered the Henriade of Vol- taire, and the Idylls of Gessner, into Polish. The former was also translated by De fiole \cku The posthumous poems of Godebski consist of two volumes on various subjects. The Jesuit Bohomolec wrote the first original Polish play in 1757. He began his career by shutting out all female characters from his dramatis personse ; but he 42 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE abandoned this absurd exclusion. He composed also the first Polish opera, entitled Ne t dza uszcze/liwiona. Prince Adam Czartoryski, one of the most liberal patrons of national Polish literature, himself added to its treasures by the publication of several dramatic works ; among which his Panna na wydaniu, Pysz- noska,pski, and Kawa ought especially to be noticed. He published at his own expense the first volume of the Polish Chronicles. Zabłocki takes a high station among the drama- tists of Poland. He published odes, satires and bu- colics, and translated many of the plays of Moliere and Beaumarchais. Kossakowski the bishop of Wilna (who died in 1794) published three anonymous comedies, Warszaw- ianin u domu, Panicz Gospodarz, and Ma^dry polak. Bogusławski wrote a History of the Polish Theatre, fourteen volumes of Dramatic Works, Dzielą dra- matyczne ; and ranks with Dmuszewski, who published ten volumes bearing the same title. To these must be added the name of Żółkowski, a witty dramatist ; and of Kowalski, the translator of Moliere. OF POLAND. 43 There has been lately published a volume of po- pular poetical ballads by Mickiewicz ; — while a passion for modern English poetry has been introduced into Poland by Sienkiewicz, whose translations of Byron's Corsair, Scott's Lady of the Lake, and other works, entitle him to honourable mention. Ostrowski has translated the Bride of Abydos. I have trespassed already on the limits I had pre- scribed to myself, and feel that the preceding list may have already wearied the attention of my reader. To it, therefore, I shall only add, that the following names remain to be recorded among the lyric, di- dactic, and epic Polish poets of the present genera- tion : Jakubowski, Hulewicz, Fiialkowski, Matusce- wicz, Gorczyczewski, A.Brodzin'ski, Timowski, Mols- ki, Szukiewicz, Lityn'ski, Wyszkowski, J. and C. Nowicki, Zglinicki, Lisiecki, Frankowski, Skomo- rowski, Małecki, Górecki, and Kiun'ski ; — and as dra- matists, M. B. Tomaszewski, Marewicz, Adamczew- ski, and Pejtalski *. 1 Schaffarik, 477. 44 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE OF POLAND. Independently of the works to which I have re- ferred, the following writings may be consulted with great advantage by those who write to inform them- selves more thoroughly on the literature of Poland. StarowolsMs Scriptores Poloni Hecatontas ; Braun's De Scriptorum Poloniae Virtutibus et Vitiis ; Nie- siecki's Korona Polska ; KaXushi Bibliotheca Poeta- rum Polonorum ; Polonia Litterata ; Excerptum Po- lonicae ; Literaturse Musarum Sarmaticafum Spe- cimina ; Duclos, Essai sur THistoire Litteraire de Po- logne ; Juszyn'ski Dyhcyonarz Poetów Polskich ; Miinnich's Geschichte der Polnische Litteratur ; and a variety of articles in the Warsaw and Cracow pe- riodicals. KOCHANOWSKI. KOCHANOWSKI. J ohn Kochanowski was born at Siczyn in 1530, and died in 1584. He travelled in the south of Europe, and was afterwards advanced to many high offices in the state ; but he resigned them all for the sake of re- tirement and peace. His Latin poetry was deemed su- perior to that of any of his contemporaries. His writ- ings are very various : he translated many of the clas- sical poets of antiquity, published both mirthful and melancholy compositions ; burlesque satires, and tra- gedies, — but has obtained his principal reputation by a series of Laments (Threny), in which he mourns the loss of a little child, whom he represents as gifted with every thing promising, intelligent, and lovely. These compositions certainly overflow with the ex- pressions of passionate grief. But the want of dimi- nutives in our language makes it impossible ade- quately to convey their tenderness into English. The 48 KOCHANOWSKI. well-known Latin verses beginning " Animula blandula, vagula," an estimable Polish friend once pointed out to me as written in the spirit of his favourite bard. Sarbiewski has translated, or rather imitated two of Kochanowski's odes, — the first beginning iE terna labes nee reparabile Polone, damnum. Lyr. lib. iv. od. v. The other, iEterna laudum nee violabilis Polone merces. Od. vi. Kochanowski printed a drama {Odprawa poslow greckich) in hexameter measure. His prose works are scarcely less numerous than his poetical, and are equally distinguished for their grace and purity of style. His brother Andrew Kochanowski translated the iEneid ; and his nephew Peter published a version of Tasso's Jerusalem, and twenty-two books of the Orlando Furioso. KOCHANOWSKI. 49 THREN I. Wszytkie płacze, wszytkie Izy Heraklitowe. Come gather round my dwelling, tears and sighs, Eloquent woes, and loud-voiced miseries ; All tones of sorrow, anguish and regret, Hand- wringing grief, and pangs the cheeks that wet; — Yes ! gather round my dwelling, all ; and join Your plaint, your passion with these plaints of mine, O'er that sweet child whom most unholy death Hath smitten, and in one outrageous breath Dispersed all joy ! — as when a dragon springs On Philomela's nest, who sits and sings Heedless, till roused by cries she flaps her wings, Flutters around her home, and shrieking tries To arrest the spoiler ; — idle strife ! she flies On wearied wing ; in vain, — the abandon'd one Becomes in turn a prey. — I 'li weep alone, Weep bitterest tears. Vain too : 't is vain, I know, All is irreparably vain below ; — We only grasp delusions ; life 's a cheat D 50 KOCHANOWSKI. Of new deceit, but link'd to old deceit. I know not which is vainer, — if to bear And struggle with our grief in mute despair, Or give the anguish passionate vent, as here. THREN VII. Nieszce y sne oche/lostwo, z'alosne ubiory. Thou Angel child ! thy mournful dress before me Throws bitterer sorrow o'er me : Thy little ornaments of joy and gladness Awake a deeper sadness. Never again to wear your splendours, — never ; All hope is fled for ever. A sleep, a hard and iron sleep hath bound thee, Dark night has gather'd round thee. Thy golden belt is dim ; thy flower-wreathed tresses Scattered — Thy summer dresses Which thy poor mother wrought ; — she had array'd thee For love, — and we have laid thee KOCHANOWSKI. 51 In the tomb's bridal bed ; and now thy dower Is a funereal flower, — A little shroud, — a grave. Sweet child ! thy father Some odorous hay shall gather, To pillow thy cold head. Death's dormitory Holds thee, and all thy glory. THREN IX. Kupic'by cie, ma/lros'ci za drogie pienia/lze. My gentle child ! and art thou vanished ? — Thou Hast left a dreary blank of sadness now ; Our house though full is desolate and lone Since thy gay spirit and its smiles are gone : We heard thy tongue's sweet prattle, and thy song Echoed in every corner all day long. Thy mother never grieved, and anxious care Ne'er rack'd thy father's thoughts while thou wert there ; Now hers — now mine — thy childish fond caress — - The overflow of youth and tenderness. d2 52 KOCHANOWSKI. But all is vacant now, — all dull and dead ; And peace, and hope, and laughing joy are fled; Our home possess'd by ever present grief, And the tired spirit vainly seeks relief. THREN X. Orszulo moia wdzięczna, gdzieś mi sie, podziała? Whither, O whither fled ! in what bright sphere Art thou, my Orzula, a wanderer ? Say, hast thou wing'd above yon heavens thy flight, A cherub midst the cherubim of light ? Dwell'st thou in Eden's garden ? — or at rest Reposing midst the islands of the blest ? Doth Charon waft thee o'er the gloomy lake, And bid thee waters of oblivion take ? — I know not ; but I know my misery Is all unknown, is all a blank to thee — Thy gentle form, thy angel thoughts, where now ? A nightingale of paradise art thou ; KOCHANOWSKI. 53 Thy mortal taints all purified — if taint Could stain the spirit of so fair a saint ; Thou art return'd to that same hallow'd spot Thou didst make holy when earth knew thee not. But, wheresoe'er thou be, compassionate My misery. If this terrestrial state Be closed upon thee — pity still, — and be A dream, a shadow, something yet to me ! THREN XIII. Moia wdzięczna Orszulo, boday ty mnie była. Would thou hadst ne'er been born — or being born Hadst left me not, sweet infant ! thus forlorn : I have paid lasting woe for fleeting bliss — A dark farewell, a speechless pang like this : Thou wert the brightest, fairest dream of sleep ; And as the miser cherishes his heap Of gold, I held thee : soon 't was fled — and nought Left but the dreary vacancies of thought, That once was blessedness. — And thou art fled, Whose fairy vision floated in my head 54 KOCHANOWSKI. And play'd around my heart. — And thou art gone, Gone with my joys ; and I am left alone : Half of my soul took flight with thee, the rest Clings to thy broken shadow in my breast. Come raise her tombstone, sculptor ! Let there be This simple offering to her memory, — " Her father's love ;— his Ursula lies here, His love ; — Alas ! his tears, his misery. Thine was a barbarous mandate, death ! The tear I drop for her, she should have shed for me." The following epitaph was written on his elder daughter, who soon followed Ursula to the tomb. Thou, Anna ! too, thy sister's track hast trod, And prematurely sought death's dark abode ; Grief soon shall call your father to his God, To brighter worlds beyond life's dismal road. KOCHANOWSKI. 55 PIESN XIII. Śnie. Który uczysz umierać' człowieka. Sweet sleep ! sure man might learn to die from thee, Who dost unravel all death's mystery ; Come, spread thy balmy influence o'er my soul, And let it soar, beyond the world's control, Up to the realms where morning has its birth, Down to the abyss whence darkness wraps the earth. Where time has piled its everlasting snows, Where parch'd by sunbeams not a fountain flows : O let it count each bright and wandering star, Or trace its mazy pilgrimage afar ; Sit in the centre, while each circling sphere Pours its aerial music on the ear ; Drink of the o'erflowing cup of joy and peace, While the tired body sleeps in weariness : No dreams to hang upon its mortal breath ; — And so — undying — let it taste of death. 56 KOCHANOWSKI. TALES OF ST. JOHN'S EVE, OR SOBOLKA FIREi. Gdy sionce Raka zagrzewa. When first the sunbeams Cancer fill, And the loud nightingale is still, In Czarny Las 9, from oldest days Sobolka fire is wont to blaze. The neighbouring swain, the distant guest Around the sacred fire have prest, The orchards with the joyous sound Of three gay fiddlers laugh around. 1 In Poland, as in most Catholic countries, St. John's day is a time of great festivity ; and in the evening the Poles are accustomed in their meadows, and particularly by the side of rivers, to light large fires, and to dance round them singing ancient songs. Kochanowski, to whom the Black Forest be- longed as an hereditary possession, used to gather the youths and maidens together, in order to celebrate the festival in the very manner in which he has described it. Niemcewicz has published a drama called " Kochanowski," and there intro- duced the old poet with the nymphs singing around him. 2 Czarny Las — The Black Forest. KOCHANOWSKI. 57 On the green turf they take their seat, Where twice six maidens fair and neat, Their ornaments and dress as one, Are girdled with the same bright zone. And skilTd in dance are all the throng, And all are skill'd in gentle song ; To all the call of music rings, And thus the foremost maiden sings. PANNA I. Sisters ! the fire is blazing high, And all proclaims festivity ; Now join your friendly hands to mine, And let our mirthful voices join. Sweet night ! be fair and tranquil now, No rain-storm rage, no tempest blow ; — Sweet night ! where we may watch and wake Until the dawn of morning break. We learnt it from our mothers — they From theirs — from centuries far away, d5 58 KOCHANOWSKI. Upon St. John's joy-rousing night Soboika's festal fire to light. Youths, reverence now, while ye behold Mementos of the days of old ; Let joyful hours breathe joy again, And gladness revel now as then : Their festal moments they enjoy'd, Yet wisely all their time employ *d ; Earth bore its fruits, and gratitude Pour'd forth its praise to heaven all-good. But now both late and hard we toil, Our festivals are but turmoil : Our gains are neither much nor sure, And though not pious we are poor. Come sisters ! then ; — this holy night Is with old time's resplendence bright ; Blaze, blaze anew, Sobótka fire ! Till lulTd by song the night retire. KOCHANOWSKI. 59 PANNA II. This is my fault ; I 'li guilty plead, I love to dance — I do indeed. Come tell me, neighbours, does the love Of dancing all your spirits move ? I see your smiles, — your smiles betray Your sympathy in what I say ; Come join the round, — why sit ye still ?- And dance and leap with hearty will. I spring — I leap — I cannot be A statue, and 't is sweet to me To hear the beating tamborine : No mortal could keep still I ween. O thou art mighty — graceful one, That wakest music's thrilling tone ; The village listens to thy lay, It calls, — we hear, — and swift obey. 60 KOCHANOWSKI. Here midst the crowds each maid may start, Who is the empress of thy heart : — Say, is she here ? — O why inquire ! She is not here — thy heart's desire. No ! join our song — thy twinkling feet Some other twinkling ones may meet ; And here, amidst our joyous band, Some maid may yet invite thy hand. To man — to man alone has Heaven The privilege of laughter given ; And this — and this alone has he, In proof of noble ancestry. O it were foolish — it were vain, So high a privilege to disdain ; And let the wretch go whine and weep, Who mirth's gay revel dares not keep. Laugh on ! laugh on ! and though at nought, Still laughter is a pleasant thought ; Laugh at my folly, or my sense, — Laugh on ! laugh on ! on some pretence. KOCHANOWSKI. 61 I am not sad — I can't be sad, Be maidens, all, like me, — be glad ; For sorrow wrinkles o'er the brow Ere time tells when, or thought knows how. . But health and youth delight to stay Where youth is glad, and age is gay ; Where years may hasten as they will, And eld is in its boyhood still. Come follow, circle, — all around Let the light song of joy rebound ; And maiden, sing ! be ready, — thine The task to waken notes like mine. PANNA IV. The fairest flow'rets of the mead I wreathe in garlands for thy head, — For thee, for none but thee, who art The very empress of my heart. O place upon thy graceful brow The blooming wreath I offer now, KOCHANOWSKI. So let me in thy bosom rest As thou dost dwell within my breast There 's not a moment but doth bring Thy memory upon its wing ; Sleep cannot drive thy thoughts from me, For when I sleep I dream of thee. And may I hope thou dost not deem Me worthless of thy heart's esteem ; That thou wilt hear my passion's tone, And recompense it with thine own ? But O ! my tongue cannot conceal The thoughts, the fears, the doubts I feel- That other longing eyes may stray O'er charms so beautiful, so gay. O maiden ! if those charms are mine, Veil, veil from all those charms of thine ; For it were madness should they move Other impassion'd youths to love. KOCHANOWSKI. 63 All other ills I 'U calmly share, — Injury and insult I can bear ; But not to see another dwell In thine eyes' sunshine, — that were hell. PANNA XII. Sweet village ! peace and joy's retreat ! O who shall tune thy praise to song ! O who shall wake a music meet Thy smiles, thy pleasures to prolong ! Bliss dwells within thy solitude, Which selfish avarice never stains \ Where thought and habit make us good, And sweet contentment gilds our gains. Let others seek a dazzling court, Where treachery poisons eye and ear ; Or to the troubled sea resort, With death and danger ,ever near. 1 Usury was considered a most degrading vice among the old Sclavonians. 64 KOCHANOWSKI. Let others sell their tongues for hire \ With falsehood and with trick delude ; Or fame, or victory's wreath acquire, By deeds of darkness and of blood. The ploughman tills the fertile field, His children bless his daily care ; While the rich fruits his labours yield, His well-contented household share. For him the bee its honey stocks, For him its gifts the orchard holds ; For him are shorn the fleecy flocks, For him the lambkins fill the folds. He gathers from the generous meads Their offering to his annual store, And winter with her snow-storms leads Repose and pleasure to his door. Around the fire they tell their tales, The songs are sung with smiles and glee ; 1 Professors of the law. KOCHANOWSKI. 65 The bowing dance again prevails * The cenar and the goniony 2 . At twilight's hour the swains repair To where the crafty foxes hie ; The hare, the thoughtless fowls they snare, And aye return with full supply. Or in the stream the baited hook, — The light and treacherous net they fling, While near the gently echoing brook The warblers of the forest sing. The cattle seek the watery mead, The shepherd sits in solitude, While to his gay and rustic reed Dance all the Nymphs that grace the wood. 1 Bowing dance. The old Polonaise, something like a minuet. 2 Amusements of the old Poles. These names are almost obsolete now. The Cenar perhaps may be translated Blind Harry, which is now called in Poland Ślepa babka, and in Li- thuania Zmurku Goniony may be rendered Hide and Seek, The whole of this poem is popular throughout Poland : it is known by every child. 66 KOCHANOWSKI. At home the housewife's busy hands The evening's frugal meal provide : Tis all the produce of her lands — No wish is breathed for aught beside. She counts the herds ; she knows the sheep When from the pasture-meads they come : Her busy eyes can never sleep, Abroad they watch — direct at home. The little children reverent bow, And ask an aged grandsire's love, Who tenderly instructs them how In peace and virtue's path to move. So rolls the day ; — but many a sun Would sink his chariot in the sea, Were I to end the tale begun Of rural joy and revelry. SZYMONOWICZ. SZYMONOWICZ. Oimon Szymonowicz was born at Leopol in 1553, and died in 1624 l . He was of low origin, but was en* nobled by the king of Poland on account of his writ- ings. He was the friend of the Chancellor Zamoyski, who engaged him as the tutor of his son, and rewarded him with an estate near Zamosc. Clement the Eighth sent him a laurel crown ; and he obtained for his Latin writings the title of the Latin Pindar. His works are principally pastoral : the beauty of the sce- nery among which he passed his life, the valleys and hills which are on the lower range of the Carpathian mountains, probably led him to the pastoral and de- scriptive style of writing. He published some religious dramas, or mysteries, — a sort of composition very po- 1 SchafFarik says (and I am inclined to think he is right) nat. 1558, ob. 1629. 70 SZYMONOWICZ. pular among the Catholics of his day, the best of which is said to be " Joseph the Chaste." His Idyls have been lately republished with the pastoral poetry of Zimorowicz, Gawiński, and Minasowicz, to which is added Nagurczewski's translation of Virgil's Ec- logues, in one volume, entitled Sielanki Polskie. SIELANKA i I. PASTORAL ECLOGUE. Kozy, ucieszne kozy, ma trzodo iedyna ! Daphnis. Goats of my flock, my sole possessions, come — Mid meadows, nut-tree?, brush-wood make your home, Eat the green leaves, the tender sprouts ; and here By the still waters I'll repose me near, And lull to rest my grief by sleep, or song : — My Phyllis has disturb'd the calming throng 1 Derived from Sielo (village). SZYMONOWICZ. 71 Of gentle thoughts. O cruel ! whatsoe'er Fate rules, the heart must feed on, and must bear. Thou hast forgotten all, — my broken joy, My soul's distraction, and the sharp annoy Of a corroding chain ; desire intense, Faith-plighted, passionate love and confidence. For thee my orchards bore their fruits : I bid My folds supply thee milk, and every kid And every snowy lamb was thine. For thee I track'd through woods the honey-bearing bee l . And / was wholly thine. — My ceaseless lays Waked thousand shepherds' voices in thy praise : For thou wert erst unknown, or unesteem'd ; They call'd thee a mean maiden, and they deem'd Thy bright eyes a black gipsy's : but my lyre Gave glory to thy stately footsteps, fire To thy shrewd glances ; — thou wert tall and straight As the unchanging fir-tree, and thy gait Became majestic : roses and snow-milk Painted thy cheeks ; thy hair was softest silk, 1 In Poland the wild bees are sought in the woods, where it is customary to bore the trees for their reception. The honey is collected in the beginning of autumn. These hollowed trees are called Barci. 72 SZYMONOWICZ. Coral thy lips, and pearls thy teeth : applause Every where greeted thee ; — and I the cause — I tuned thy charms to song ; and my reward Is thy contempt,— ^and the enamour'd bard Is left to misery. While the noontide ray Gilds with its brightness all the charms of day, — While in the woodlands birds and flocks repose, And from its toils the weary heifer goes, — While the green lizards round their dwellings green Play joyous, — I am left to mourn unseen, O'er shatter'd hopes and shipwreck'd thoughts. I try To appease their busy tumult fruitlessly. The lion hunts the wolf — the wolf pursues The goat — the goat is pleased among the dews Of the red heath : — my sorrow clings to thee ; — All have their passions and pursuits ; — none free From the indwelling worm of grief. I caught A pair of lovely deer, to whom I taught Obedience ; — from my goats they drank their food ; I wean'd them from their savage solitude, And many a maiden covets them ; — but thou Think'st all my offerings poor and worthless now. Hark ! for the woods are full of music ! See O'er the gay fields the flocks sport joyously SZYMONOWICZ. 73 How blest we here might dwell ; how calmly go To the cold boundary of life's toils below, — Wouldst thou but smile upon my humble cot, And from thy gentle bosom chase me nqj. Here the soft mosses o'er the grottos grow, And shades and woods repose, and streamlets flow O'er stony beds ; the poplars tall, the wide And ample lindens ; elms and oaks, the pride Of centuries. But without thy soothing voice No streams harmonious roll, no woods rejoice, No charms are charming. — Wherefore should I be So worthless, so indifferent, love ! to thee ? I look'd into the glassy stream, I sought Some hidden cause of thy ungenerous thought ; — - None could I find. My sheep are in the field, — They feed, they prosper ; and my goat-flocks yield Annual increase. I have a rich supply Of milk, and I am skill'd in poetry And the sweet lyre, even like that swain of old, Amphion, watching o'er his ravish'd fold And waking song ; while at his wild harp's sound The woods and all their tenants danced around. It matters not ; my song is vain, and vain All my bewailing : I must bear the pain 74 SZYMONOWICZ. Unmurmuring, for my murmurs are to thee A selfish triumph, and thy cruelty Nothing can soften. Dost thou scorn me ? Who Possesses that false heart that once was true ? — Laugh on ! laugh on ! A lion's whelp art thou, And I a silly lamb. My ice-cold brow The grave's dull earth shall soon be crumbled over, And this shall be my epitaph of woe ; — " The cruel Phyllis has destroy'd her lover." SIELANKA XIV. CZARY. WITCHCRAFT. Juz* to trzecia noc, iako doma niemasz mego. THE JEALOUS WIFE. Three nights have pass'd since he left me here, And something is amiss I fear ; Yes ! surely something is amiss ;— And what he does, and where he is, SZYMONOWICZ. 75 I. can't divine : — And who can bear The throb of doubt and woe like this ! Thestyli, bring for magic's rites The awful tools — To-night, to-night My heart. shall summon witchcraft's sprites, And revel in the wild delight. Why did he marry thus to leave me ? — He well may grieve, who thus could grieve me. I'll pour perdition on the maid Who first his faithless passions sway'd : She wounded me, — it shall return, Canker'd within, her heart to burn. Moon ! I conjure thee— thou art pure ; Yet when thou know'st my wrongs, thy eyes, Pitying the miseries I endure, Will show the midnight's mysteries To me, the wretched ! — I was chaste And lovely ; — from my parents' home He bore me, in his scorn to waste Affection's blush and passion's bloom ; — A wife unstain'd, a faithful mate, He leaves me to be desolate. e 2 76 SZYM0N0W1CZ. Pledged faith ! Avenge, avenge me now ! Thou God above ! look down below : He sees thee not— he knows thee not ; Be shame and wretchedness his lot ! His heart is scared — his thoughts rebel, — Now scathe him with the fires of hell ! Tis an unholy task, I know ; But grief is deaf — it must be so : I know damnation's fiends await Those who would tear the veils of fate. It must be so, I cannot stay, — Come, tardy Thestili, obey ! Pour white millet on the pan, Shake it o'er the glowing fire ; Fan, the blazing cauldron fan, — Stronger the flame must burn, and higher. Husband, turn to thy wife's desire : Mighty magic ! conduct him home ; — My grief is mad, — Come, husband, come ! He burns my heart ; — on his head I burn The crumbled leaves of the blister- tree ; SZYMONOWICZ. 77 And as the leaves to ashes turn, So let his heart burn scorehingly. Mighty magic ! conduct him home ; — My grief is mad, — Come, husband, come ! I melt the wax in the furnace heat : — As the earth is soften'd by summer rain, So let him dissolve in a burning sweat, And pass into dew for his cold disdain. Mighty magic ! conduct him home ; — My grief is mad, — Come, husband, come ! I turn the spindle : — I fain would turn His faithless heart. No rest shall light On his anxious soul ; and visions stern Shall be his by day, and dreams by night. Mighty magic ! conduct him home ; — My grief is mad, — Come, husband, come ! My head-dress in three-fold knots I tie, And my hair in tresses ;— so bind his soul ; Let them tangle, until his heart shall fly From unhallow'd passion's fierce control. Mighty magic ! conduct him home ; — My grief is mad, — Come, husband, come ! 78 SZYMONOWICZ. Place in the vessel a midnight bat ; Let it burn, — let it burn, — and the magic spell Shall bear him to torments worse than that, — O, would I could add the fire of hell ! Mighty magic ! conduct him home ; — My grief is mad, — Come, husband, come. These poisonous weeds to a loathsome toad Transforms an old woman, — Away, away Through the air on a fiery pole she rode :-— Burn, — burn, — he cannot resist their sway. Mighty magic ! conduct him home ; — My grief is mad, — Come, husband, come ! I have a kerchief, which erst in dance, When I was a maid, he threw at me, While wet with the dew of his countenance : — As his sweat, the foam of his mouth shall be. Mighty magic ! conduct him home ; — My grief is mad, — Come, husband, come. Grits boil in this apron — boil ! It boils ! No fire is there ; — the spell succeeds. He comes ! — he comes ! — to reward my toils ; I hear the barking hounds through the reeds. SZYMONOWICZ. 79 I hear him knock — The boilings cease, The howling dogs are now at peace. 'Tis he ! — 'tis he ! — they knew him well, They knew him by their eager smell. So punish'd, he will perhaps improve : But shall I welcome him with love, Or wait till he has rested ? He Is panting hard. — 'Twas marvellously Well done, — for force must act on will, Where will rebels. — Fire, brighten still ! O aid me, mighty craft ! till grief In dark revenge obtain relief. Burn, tendons, — tell me when they smoke : — So may the accursed members shrivel (As when my heart in anguish broke) Of that seducing fiend of evil. Revenge, revenge, dark craft ! till grief In ample vengeance find relief. Now strip these rags at my behest, Her corpse through dirt let hangmen draw, 80 SZYMONOWI CZ. Let fiery pincers tear her breast, And to the hounds her body throw. So aid me, mighty craft ! till grief In dark revenge obtain relief. Thou owl ! that hootest through the wood, In vain thou shalt no longer hoot, — Before, behind, in solitude And through the world, screech ' Prostitute ! ' So aid me, mighty craft ! till grief In full revenge obtain relief. Spit thrice, and as the spittle falls, Curse her ; and let her face be thick With plague-spots, — sores, and wounds, and galls Pollute her : let her foul hands pick The living worms that o'er her creep ; — Then rot upon pollution's heap. My ears with music ring — I start — O, thou hast triumph'd, mighty art ! Vengeance upon her head descend ! Be welcome — welcome now, my friend ! SZYMONOWICZ. 81 But he is come — is come at last, He came half-booted — came in haste. I pity — but forgive. — Indeed The heart is glad, he caused to bleed. EPIGRAMS. THE HARE. The hounds pursue me in their cruel course ; — I turn'd ; I saw the huntsman from his horse Fall death-struck to the ground. So perish all Who plot, or see unmoved another's fall. THE WOLF. Ye drag me through the village, peasants ! Good ! I have a thousand brothers in the wood :- — Yes ! yes ! insult the dead ! My life you rive, But thousands to avenge me are alive. e 5 82 SZYMONOWICZ. THE OLD COCK. In my young days full many a fight I won ; But I am old, and all my glory 's gone : The young subdue me, and the vulture's throat Is now my tomb. I can avenge it not. ZIMOROWICZ. ZIMOROWICZ. Oimeon Zimorowicz was born at Leopol, in 1 604. He died prematurely in 1629. He followed in the steps of his friend, and claimed no merit but that of imitating Szymonowicz. He has more poetical force than the latter, but far less grace and harmony. He was bu- ried in the convent of Dominican Friars at Cracow, where the following inscription covers his remains : Subter te, qui legis, Simeon Zimorowicz Leopoliensis Omnium Musarum et Gratiarum Floridus Adolescens Particulam Terrse Roxolanae Cum calculo abjecit : Ipse Indole, Litteris, Moribus Annos xxv supergressus Rediit unde venerat Anno 1629, Die 21 Junii S6 ZIMOROWICZ. Cui F R. MR. Lacrymas et longum Vale Tu Supremum Have da et I. SONG. Widziałem cie / z okieneczka, kiedyś' przechodził. I saw thee from my easement high, And watch'd thy speaking countenance ; With silent step thou glidest by, And didst not cast a hurried glance Upon my mean abode, nor me. Then misery smote me : — but for Heaven I should have fallen scathed and dead. I blame thee not, — thou art forgiven ; I yet may hear thy gentle tread, When evening shall o'ermantle thee. The evening came, — then mantling night ; I waited till the full moon tower'd ZIMOROWICZ. 87 High in the heaven. My longing sight Perceived thee not :— the damp mists lower'd ; In vain I sought thee anxiously. Didst thou upon some privileged leaf My name record, and to the wind Commit it, — bid it charm my grief, Bear some sweet influence to my mind, And set me from despairing free ? Where are the strains of music now, — The song, the dance, that morn and eve Were heard around my house, — when low And sweet thy voice was wont to heave Soft sighs and gentle thoughts for me ? 5 Tis past, 'tis past, — and in my heart Is sorrow, — silence in my ear : The vain world's wonted smiles depart ; Joy and the spring-tide of the year, Fond youth ! are scatter'd speedily. Thou hast not said Farewell ! No sleep Shall close my mourning eye, — the night 88 ZIMOROWICZ. Is gloomy now. Go, minstrel, weep ! For I shall weep, — and sorrow's blight That scathes my heart shall visit thee. SIELANKA. Wdzięczny Zephirze, lecac y s'rodkiem Ukrainy. Zephyr ! that gently o'er Ukraine art flying, Go and salute my Marina for me ; Whisper her tenderly, soothingly sighing " Lo ! he has sent these soft accents to thee ! " Why dost thou dwell, my sweet maiden, so lonely ? Why dost thou dwell in so gloomy a spot ? Think of the palace of Leopol l ; — only Think, my fair maid ! though thou visit it not. There in thy bower is a window, where seated Often thou sheddest a smile on thy swain ; — There have my sighs oft an audience intreated ; — Maiden ! that window invites thee again. 1 Leopol is the capital of Red Russia, Roxolania, now Aus- trian Galicia. It was founded by Leo Raku, whence its name. ZIMOROWICZ. 89 Lady ! the thought of thy absence has shaded Even the fiow'rets with sorrow and gloom ; All the bright roses and lilies are faded, And my gay orchard is stripp'd of its bloom. Come, my fair maid, with thy beautiful blushes, Shine o'er our turrets, — O come for a while ! Smile on us, Lady, — O smile, — though Red Russia's Twice-castled towers may deserve not thy smile. Lo ! it expects thee, — its Lions l await thee, Watching like sentinels fix'd on the height ; Sleepless and eager to welcome and greet thee, When thy fair vision shall dawn on their sight. Haste, maiden, haste ! scatter blessings around thee ; Laughter and wit are awaiting thee here ; Courtesies, feastings, and smiles shall be found thee, Wanderings 2 and wassails to honour thee, dear ! Here have we centred the graces and pleasures, Come, thou bright lady ! inherit them now ; — Russia pours out all her charms and her treasures, Nothing is wanting, — O nothing, but Thou. 1 Lions.— * The arms of Leopol are Lions. * Original :— ramblings in the country. 90 ZIMOROWICZ. SIELANKA. Ukochana Lancelloto ? Ciebe nie proszę, o złoto, It is not gold that I entreat, I would not have thy riches, sweet ! I supplicate no gems from thee, I want no rings of brilliancy ; — But give me, give me, lovely maid ! The rosemary wreath that crowns thy head. When thou didst plant those flow'rets, thou Didst pledge the wreath to bind my brow ; — The wreath is woven, now convey The wreath to me as thou didst say : Come, give me, give me, lovely maid ! The rosemary wreath that crowns thy head. It will not, cannot make thee poor ; But, lovely maid ! I '11 give thee more Than its most precious price, — I 'li buy The bargain though thou prize it high. But give me, give me, lovely maid ! The rosemary wreath that crowns thy head. They cost thee nought, those simple flowers. - Some maids must give with garlands, dowers : Yet I will give a dower to thee, And take the wreath, — so give it me ; — Yes ! give me, give me, lovely maid ! The rosemary wreath that crowns thy head. If not for love nor friendship's sake A present of the wreath thou 'It make, 1 11 give thee for thy garland now, The Turkish turban on my brow. So give me, give me, lovely maid ! The rosemary wreath that crowns thy head. 'T will fade ere long, — the summer sky Will blast its bloom — its flowers will die ; Though suns be cool, and winds should sleep, Soon autumn's chill will o'er it creep. Come, give me, give me, lovely maid ! The rosemary wreath that crowns thy head. Thou wilt not stain thy virtue, maid ! No shame thy footsteps shall invade, Though thou didst wear a wreath of truth, And gav'st it to a faithful youth* 92 ZIMOROWICZ. So give me, give me, lovely maid ! The rosemary wreath that crowns thy head. O is it not a praise, a bliss, For such a trifling gift as this, — A few frail flowers that soon must die, — To find a friend — eternally ! Then give me, give me, lovely maid ! The rosemary wreath that crowns thy head. SIELANKA. Rozyna mi w taneczku Pomaran'cze data. Rosina while dancing, an orange convey'd, And promised the garland that circled her head ; I gave her my hand, — and with love and desire The orange was turn'd to a ball of bright fire. It burnt like a coal from the furnace ; and made Its way to my heart, while it fever'd my head. Rosina ! my flame ! — that fair orange of gold Has kindled a passion which may not be told. ZIMOROW1CZ. 93 I have learnt what love is ; — not Venus the fair, But the whelp of a lioness fierce in her lair ; She-tiger of Caucasus, nurtured to scorn The hearts that are broken, and souls that are torn. SIELANKA. Roxolanki ukochane \ Przecz usta wasze różane. Maid of Roxolania fair ! by your lips of roses swear Why your lyre's sublimest tone sings the graceful Thelegdon. T is that noblest passion's praise merits aye the noblest lays. Light of love, whose kindling stream shines like morning's dewy beam ; Not so bright the dawn which shakes splendent ringlets w T hen she wakes. Not so rich her lips of red, when their balmy breath they spread ; Not so glorious is her eye, burning in its richest dye; 94* ZIMOROWICZ. Not so modest when her face shadows all its blush- ing grace. Yet if heaven's thick- scattered light seeks to be more pure, more bright, 'T is from her their rays they '11 take. — Goddess of the frozen lake, Genii of the wintry snow, warm ye in her beauty's glow. Not the immeasurable sea, — not the tide's profun- dity, — Not the ceaseless years that sweep, — not the mur- mur of the deep, Shall outlive that maiden pure, — shall beyond her fame endure. Joyous hours again renew, — songs of praise and rap- ture too ; Maid of Roxolania praise, — praise the fair one in your lays. SARBIEWSKI. SARBIEWSKL iVlATTHEw Casimir Sarbiewski, commonly known by the name of Casimir, was born in 1595. He was educated by the Jesuits, and filled the theological chair at Wilna. He was the court preacher to Wla- dislaw the Fourth, and died in Warsaw in 1640. He had travelled in early life in the south of Europe, and had established many intimate friendships with the literary men of his time. His Latin poems are well known ; Dr. Watts translated and imitated many of them in his Lyrics. There are few writers whose Latinity is so pure as that of Sarbiewski, — who is only one of the many Poles who have published Latin poetry. The most distinguished next to Sar- biewski are, Janicki, who at the beginning of the 16th century was poet-laureate to His Holiness, and died in his 28th year ; and Skop a peasant, who passed the early part of his life as a soldier, visited England, and returned to devote himself to poetical studies. In the time of Dr. Connor* " almost all F 98 SARBIEWSKI. the common people," to use his own words, " spoke Latin currently ;" and even now the use of that lan- guage is very extensive. Formerly it was employed in courts of law, in the churches, and in conversation among the higher classes. Grotius was a great ad- mirer of Sarbiewski's Odes. He began an epic poem on the history of Poland, and published some prose works on poetry and mythology. An interesting account of, and a valuable criticism on Sarbievius, by Mr. Walker of Cambridge, will be found in the Classical Journal, No. xxv. p. 103. I should have elevated our author in popular opi- nion, if, instead of my own translations, I could have published those with which Mr. Walker has favoured me, — but, I believe, not the -world. SAPPHICS. TO A ROSE : INTENDED TO BE USED IN THE GARLANDS FOR DECORATING THE HEAD OF THE VIRGIN MARY. Siderum sacros imitata vultus.— Lib. iv. Ode 18. Rose of the morning, in thy glowing beauty Bright as the stars, and delicate and lovely, SARBIEWSKI. 99 Lift up thy head above thy earthly dwelling, Daughter of heaven ! Wake ! for the watery clouds are all dispersing ; Zephyr invites thee,- — frosts and snows of winter All are departed, and Favonian breezes Welcome thee smiling. Rise in thy beauty, — Wilt thou form a garland Round the fair brow of some beloved maiden ? Pure though she be, unhallow'd temple never, Flow'ret ! shall wear thee. Thou shouldst be wreath 'd in coronal immortal, — Thou shouldst be flung upon a shrine eternal, — Thou shouldst be twined among the golden ringlets- j Of the pure Virgin. / SAPPHICS. f 6 THE POLISH AND LITHUANIAN KNIGHTS. Exteros mores prohibete pulchra. — Lib. iv. Od. 36. " Thebans ! O let no foreign customs throw their Scandal among you. Teach religious duties, Laws of your country, virtues of your fathers, Teach to your children. y ?• 100 SABBTEWSKI. " Sacred your temples, — your tribunals, justice ; Peace, truth, and love dwell midst you, omni- present ; All that is vile and all that is unholy Drive from your city ! " Walls screen not crime ; and punishment will force its Way through the tower, and through the thrice- bound portal, Smiting the vicious. Thunderbolts but wait to Burst on the vile one. " Painted deceit, tyrannical ambition, Wealth-seeking lust, and luxury's excesses, — - Chase them far from you ; let them never hold a Throne in your bosoms. " Poverty gives to man unwonted vigour, Teaches him patience 'neath the weight of suffering, Arms him with courage ;— but the stolen armour Wearies, though golden. " Whether your lot be war or peace, ye Thebans ! Still be united ; — for united brothers SARBIEWSKI. 101 Stand like a temple on a hundred pillars Firmly supported. 11 So midst the rocks the sailor in his prudence Looks to the stars ; and so the friendly anchor Steadies the vessel on the heaving ocean, — Steadies it surely. " So doth the bond that binds the social fabric Strengthen ; while strife and mighty fraud and rancour Overthrow cities, threatening desolation E'en to the mightiest." Thus from his lyre in tones of wonted sweetness Breathed out Amphion, — while in silent pleasure Dirce stood listening, and the glad Cithaeron Waved its green branches. So o'er the fields the rocks and cliffs delighted Danced in their joy, and from the lofty mountain Bow'd the tall trees, — and all the hills of granite Shouted accordant. 102 SARBIEWSKI. Then the bard ceased ; — and stones to stones united, Form'd in firm walls around the steadfast city, And her seven brazen portals on their hinges Stood in their firmness. SAPPHICS. TO PUBLIUS. Quae tegit canas modo bruma valleis.— Lib. ii. Od. 2. Veil'd are the valleys with their hoary whiteness, Which they shall banish when the sun awaking Looks o'er the mountains. Snowy age, whose winter Throws on thy forehead Hoar-frost, will sweep that hoar-frost from thee never, Never. Its spring, its summer, and its autumn Hasten and fly, — they crowd on one another, Swiftly they hasten. But the cold winter and thy snowy hairs will Cleave to thee ever. Nor will fragrant spikenard, Nor the choice flowers of spring create the tinges Of thy young beauty. SARBIEWSKI. 103 One whom we love had youth conferr'd upon us, — One whom we love age snatcheth from our bosom ; — Publius ! enjoy the years of life twice over, Glory pursuing. He hath lived long and well, whose death enforces Tears from his neighbours, — who has made his glory Heir to himself; — rapacious time will plunder All, all besides it. CHORIAMBICS. TO THE CICADA. O quae populea summa sedens coma.— Lib. iv. Od. 23. Thou, whose voice in the grove's silence is heard aloft, While thou drinkest the tear-drops of the heavenly dews, Thy sweet music, Cicada, In thine ecstasy, pouring forth. Come, come, Summer on light wheels is advancing fast, While the hastening suns move, be they hail'd but chid 104 SARBIEWSKI. For their tarrying too long, When the frosts of the winter flee* As days dawn in their joy, so they depart in haste, — So flee, speedily flee ; speedily speeds our bliss, Too short are its abidings, — But grief lingeringly dwells with man. ALCAICS. TO HIS LYRE. Sonora Buxi filia sutilis.— £