Papers by Monika Mikuła
In 1833 Słowacki published the third volume of Poezyje, which also included a lyrical novel Lam... more In 1833 Słowacki published the third volume of Poezyje, which also included a lyrical novel Lambro. Here, describing the fight of Greek people for freedom, he judges the Polish revolt of November 1833. The main character of his poem is Lambro, who after a defeat becomes a pirate. A model for him could have been Lambro Katsonis (1752―1804), who during the Russian―Turkish war (1787―1792) made himself known as an excellent leader. When the Russian empress, Caterina II made peace with Turkey, he forsook his allegiance to her and continued the fight on his own. The first author, who introduced him into literature was Lord Byron. In Bride of Abydos Selim mentions his two companions, among whose are: "The last of Lambros' patriots there/ Anticipated freedom share." and later in his Don Juan we read about Lambro, the father of Haidee: "Hate to the world and war with every nation/ He waged, in vengeance of her degradation". Writing Lambro Słowacki fulfilled his youthful dreams and joined the European movement of philhellenism. Moreover, he used a motif, which was equally interesting for a Greek poet Dionisios Solomos (1798―1857). Solomos wanted to create a really Romantic European poem in independent Greece and in the twenties he started to write a poem Lambros, which, as almost all of his works, was never finished. Here is a short summary:
Lambros seduces Mary, a 15-year-old girl, promising to marry her. They have four children ― a daughter and three sons, whom he sends to an orphanage. 15 years pass and Mary lives in Lambros' house not having married him. Their sons die. Lambros fights against the Turks wishing to take his vengeance on them for the death of a saint, the brother of Mary. One day a girl in a man's uniform comes to his camp, saying that she wants to become a Christian. He desires her because of her beauty. He seduces her before he is able to recognise her as his daughter. In despair the girl drowns herself in a lake. The same night, a day before Resurrection, Lambros tells the truth to Mary, who loses her mind from despair and commits suicide in the same place where her daughter died. Lambros dies in a similar way.
The central character of both poems is a Byronic figure, ruled by emotions, fighting for freedom of oppressed Greece, rebelling against his fate and God. Both main characters are individuals torn between conflicting emotions and led to insanity by mysterious fate. One seeks relief in drugs, another in blasphemy against God, giving himself over to Satan. Both poets contrast them with noble characters: Słowacki with Ryga and Solomos with a priest ― a martyr, who was burnt alive on Ali Pasa's order. Ryga ― "the last Greek" ― dies hung on a mast of a Turkish frigate. His avenger is Lambro . The revenge ― blowing up the frigate with the body of Ryga and thousands of Turkish soldiers ― is the last heroic work of Lambro. Solomos's Lambros is also to be an avenger, but after an horrible vision he has in church, insane after cursing God, who created him, he drowns himself in the same place, where his daughter died.
In both poems we can see the influence of Byron' s poetry ( first of all, in both of Corsair, in Solomos' also of Manfred), of Milton's Paradise Lost and of Coleridge's poetry, mostly The Rimes of Old Mariner. Both poets use the same means of expression, typical of Romantic vividness such as visions and dreams, which are to discover the hero's soul and its destruction. Słowacki's Lambro lives at sea, which gives him loneliness and lets him dream and have visions, which are strengthened by opium. In Mary's dream and Lambros' vision Solomos also shows the souls of his heroes and foretells their death. All these visions are full of frenetic motives: Angel of Revenge and Angel of Plague in the vision of Słowacki's Lambro, the ghosts of Mary’s children on a ship where she is and the ghosts of Lambro’s sons, who run after him in the church, catch him and kiss him in his mouth. Both poets use also folk motives attributing to them sincerity of feelings and unadorned simplicity seen as the highest values of life and art. Słowacki uses the motif of a girl dressing as a boy in order to be closer to her beloved and later to be killed by him (Ida, Lambros’s lover). In Solomos’s poem, Lambros’s daughter disguises herself as a Turkish boy to get to the Greek camp. As we can see, both poets were fascinated with Byron’s poetry and they were under his influence for a long time wanting to become a Polish or Greek Byron for their readers. Their wish was to become soul leaders of their nations to lead them to real freedom. To become such a leader Słowacki had to "learn" Poland (this legendary one and historical, most of all of XVII and XVIII century). He left foreign scenery (like in Lambro) and started to write about Polish events starting with Kordian. His new "lover" became Shakespeare. Solomos became the poet of rebels and ordinary people, who fought and died for freedom. He wrote A Woman of Zakynthos, where a Zakynthian woman refuses to help those, who escaped from besieged Mesolongi. The next and the most important work of Solomos is Free and Besieged about the people of Mesolongi, who fight not only with the enemy but also with hunger. Weakened, in pain, hungry, fated to die, they remain faithful to their religion and their country.
Both poets understood the role of poetry and of poet in the same way because their life was similar. Both were the sons of an oppressed country, both wanted to be poetic leaders of their nations, both did not take part in fighting, both lived out of their country ― Solomos in "a voluntary exile", Słowacki in a compulsory one. Both longed for their country ― Solomos for ideal, dreamt of (most people think that he never lived in free Greece, because he was afraid of disappointment), Słowacki for "the happy country, the country which never changes in dreams". They met in 1836 on a ship sailing from Corfu to Zakinthos (Zante). Słowacki was curious about Solomos, whose Hymn for Liberty he knew and which influenced his Ode to Liberty. He left us a poetic picture of the meeting and the great poet himself in III and IV Song of Voyage to Saint Land from Neapolis . He also translated the first verses of his Hymn for Liberty there. Liberty, which was of such importance for them and which mixed their fate in literature and life.
Book Reviews by Monika Mikuła
It' s an review of my book to teach koine greek written by priest KUL ks. dr. Andrzej Piwowar
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Papers by Monika Mikuła
Lambros seduces Mary, a 15-year-old girl, promising to marry her. They have four children ― a daughter and three sons, whom he sends to an orphanage. 15 years pass and Mary lives in Lambros' house not having married him. Their sons die. Lambros fights against the Turks wishing to take his vengeance on them for the death of a saint, the brother of Mary. One day a girl in a man's uniform comes to his camp, saying that she wants to become a Christian. He desires her because of her beauty. He seduces her before he is able to recognise her as his daughter. In despair the girl drowns herself in a lake. The same night, a day before Resurrection, Lambros tells the truth to Mary, who loses her mind from despair and commits suicide in the same place where her daughter died. Lambros dies in a similar way.
The central character of both poems is a Byronic figure, ruled by emotions, fighting for freedom of oppressed Greece, rebelling against his fate and God. Both main characters are individuals torn between conflicting emotions and led to insanity by mysterious fate. One seeks relief in drugs, another in blasphemy against God, giving himself over to Satan. Both poets contrast them with noble characters: Słowacki with Ryga and Solomos with a priest ― a martyr, who was burnt alive on Ali Pasa's order. Ryga ― "the last Greek" ― dies hung on a mast of a Turkish frigate. His avenger is Lambro . The revenge ― blowing up the frigate with the body of Ryga and thousands of Turkish soldiers ― is the last heroic work of Lambro. Solomos's Lambros is also to be an avenger, but after an horrible vision he has in church, insane after cursing God, who created him, he drowns himself in the same place, where his daughter died.
In both poems we can see the influence of Byron' s poetry ( first of all, in both of Corsair, in Solomos' also of Manfred), of Milton's Paradise Lost and of Coleridge's poetry, mostly The Rimes of Old Mariner. Both poets use the same means of expression, typical of Romantic vividness such as visions and dreams, which are to discover the hero's soul and its destruction. Słowacki's Lambro lives at sea, which gives him loneliness and lets him dream and have visions, which are strengthened by opium. In Mary's dream and Lambros' vision Solomos also shows the souls of his heroes and foretells their death. All these visions are full of frenetic motives: Angel of Revenge and Angel of Plague in the vision of Słowacki's Lambro, the ghosts of Mary’s children on a ship where she is and the ghosts of Lambro’s sons, who run after him in the church, catch him and kiss him in his mouth. Both poets use also folk motives attributing to them sincerity of feelings and unadorned simplicity seen as the highest values of life and art. Słowacki uses the motif of a girl dressing as a boy in order to be closer to her beloved and later to be killed by him (Ida, Lambros’s lover). In Solomos’s poem, Lambros’s daughter disguises herself as a Turkish boy to get to the Greek camp. As we can see, both poets were fascinated with Byron’s poetry and they were under his influence for a long time wanting to become a Polish or Greek Byron for their readers. Their wish was to become soul leaders of their nations to lead them to real freedom. To become such a leader Słowacki had to "learn" Poland (this legendary one and historical, most of all of XVII and XVIII century). He left foreign scenery (like in Lambro) and started to write about Polish events starting with Kordian. His new "lover" became Shakespeare. Solomos became the poet of rebels and ordinary people, who fought and died for freedom. He wrote A Woman of Zakynthos, where a Zakynthian woman refuses to help those, who escaped from besieged Mesolongi. The next and the most important work of Solomos is Free and Besieged about the people of Mesolongi, who fight not only with the enemy but also with hunger. Weakened, in pain, hungry, fated to die, they remain faithful to their religion and their country.
Both poets understood the role of poetry and of poet in the same way because their life was similar. Both were the sons of an oppressed country, both wanted to be poetic leaders of their nations, both did not take part in fighting, both lived out of their country ― Solomos in "a voluntary exile", Słowacki in a compulsory one. Both longed for their country ― Solomos for ideal, dreamt of (most people think that he never lived in free Greece, because he was afraid of disappointment), Słowacki for "the happy country, the country which never changes in dreams". They met in 1836 on a ship sailing from Corfu to Zakinthos (Zante). Słowacki was curious about Solomos, whose Hymn for Liberty he knew and which influenced his Ode to Liberty. He left us a poetic picture of the meeting and the great poet himself in III and IV Song of Voyage to Saint Land from Neapolis . He also translated the first verses of his Hymn for Liberty there. Liberty, which was of such importance for them and which mixed their fate in literature and life.
Book Reviews by Monika Mikuła
Lambros seduces Mary, a 15-year-old girl, promising to marry her. They have four children ― a daughter and three sons, whom he sends to an orphanage. 15 years pass and Mary lives in Lambros' house not having married him. Their sons die. Lambros fights against the Turks wishing to take his vengeance on them for the death of a saint, the brother of Mary. One day a girl in a man's uniform comes to his camp, saying that she wants to become a Christian. He desires her because of her beauty. He seduces her before he is able to recognise her as his daughter. In despair the girl drowns herself in a lake. The same night, a day before Resurrection, Lambros tells the truth to Mary, who loses her mind from despair and commits suicide in the same place where her daughter died. Lambros dies in a similar way.
The central character of both poems is a Byronic figure, ruled by emotions, fighting for freedom of oppressed Greece, rebelling against his fate and God. Both main characters are individuals torn between conflicting emotions and led to insanity by mysterious fate. One seeks relief in drugs, another in blasphemy against God, giving himself over to Satan. Both poets contrast them with noble characters: Słowacki with Ryga and Solomos with a priest ― a martyr, who was burnt alive on Ali Pasa's order. Ryga ― "the last Greek" ― dies hung on a mast of a Turkish frigate. His avenger is Lambro . The revenge ― blowing up the frigate with the body of Ryga and thousands of Turkish soldiers ― is the last heroic work of Lambro. Solomos's Lambros is also to be an avenger, but after an horrible vision he has in church, insane after cursing God, who created him, he drowns himself in the same place, where his daughter died.
In both poems we can see the influence of Byron' s poetry ( first of all, in both of Corsair, in Solomos' also of Manfred), of Milton's Paradise Lost and of Coleridge's poetry, mostly The Rimes of Old Mariner. Both poets use the same means of expression, typical of Romantic vividness such as visions and dreams, which are to discover the hero's soul and its destruction. Słowacki's Lambro lives at sea, which gives him loneliness and lets him dream and have visions, which are strengthened by opium. In Mary's dream and Lambros' vision Solomos also shows the souls of his heroes and foretells their death. All these visions are full of frenetic motives: Angel of Revenge and Angel of Plague in the vision of Słowacki's Lambro, the ghosts of Mary’s children on a ship where she is and the ghosts of Lambro’s sons, who run after him in the church, catch him and kiss him in his mouth. Both poets use also folk motives attributing to them sincerity of feelings and unadorned simplicity seen as the highest values of life and art. Słowacki uses the motif of a girl dressing as a boy in order to be closer to her beloved and later to be killed by him (Ida, Lambros’s lover). In Solomos’s poem, Lambros’s daughter disguises herself as a Turkish boy to get to the Greek camp. As we can see, both poets were fascinated with Byron’s poetry and they were under his influence for a long time wanting to become a Polish or Greek Byron for their readers. Their wish was to become soul leaders of their nations to lead them to real freedom. To become such a leader Słowacki had to "learn" Poland (this legendary one and historical, most of all of XVII and XVIII century). He left foreign scenery (like in Lambro) and started to write about Polish events starting with Kordian. His new "lover" became Shakespeare. Solomos became the poet of rebels and ordinary people, who fought and died for freedom. He wrote A Woman of Zakynthos, where a Zakynthian woman refuses to help those, who escaped from besieged Mesolongi. The next and the most important work of Solomos is Free and Besieged about the people of Mesolongi, who fight not only with the enemy but also with hunger. Weakened, in pain, hungry, fated to die, they remain faithful to their religion and their country.
Both poets understood the role of poetry and of poet in the same way because their life was similar. Both were the sons of an oppressed country, both wanted to be poetic leaders of their nations, both did not take part in fighting, both lived out of their country ― Solomos in "a voluntary exile", Słowacki in a compulsory one. Both longed for their country ― Solomos for ideal, dreamt of (most people think that he never lived in free Greece, because he was afraid of disappointment), Słowacki for "the happy country, the country which never changes in dreams". They met in 1836 on a ship sailing from Corfu to Zakinthos (Zante). Słowacki was curious about Solomos, whose Hymn for Liberty he knew and which influenced his Ode to Liberty. He left us a poetic picture of the meeting and the great poet himself in III and IV Song of Voyage to Saint Land from Neapolis . He also translated the first verses of his Hymn for Liberty there. Liberty, which was of such importance for them and which mixed their fate in literature and life.