{"id":8046,"date":"2023-03-15T19:42:24","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T18:42:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/newyork\/?p=8046"},"modified":"2024-09-24T15:02:48","modified_gmt":"2024-09-24T13:02:48","slug":"julian-tuwim-the-master-of-the-polish-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/newyork\/2023\/03\/15\/julian-tuwim-the-master-of-the-polish-word\/","title":{"rendered":"Julian Tuwim, the master of the Polish word"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Polish Poetry Unites<\/em><\/strong><\/a> is a video series complementing our Encounters with Polish Literature<\/a><\/strong> series for anyone interested in literature, poetry in particular, history, and reading. In each episode, Edward Hirsch<\/strong><\/a>, a distinguished American poet, and the president of the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, will introduce a celebrated Polish poet to American audiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Edward Hirsch says: Julian Tuwim<\/strong> <\/em>(1894-1953) is a remarkable poet. He\u2019s probably the most important Polish poet between World War I and World War II. He was a Jew and a Pole. He wasn\u2019t very committed to his Jewishness; he was tremendously committed to his Polishness. He believed in the Polish literary and cultural tradition and contributed a tremendous amount to it. He was one of the founding members of a group called Skamander.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This group was vital and completely committed to the present. They believed in a kind of vital Bergsonian commitment to life. They were also traditionalists poetically, they believed in the sanctity of a good rhyme, in the importance, almost the divine quality of rhythm. The\u2013 the nature of poetic form. This makes their work extremely difficult to translate, <\/em>said Edward Hirsch in the beginning of his introduction of the poet to the American audiences.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julian Tuwim\u2019s epic poem \u201cPolish Flowers\u201d was finished during the World War II in New York City, where he managed to escape with his wife, Zofia. Tuwim is best known as a poet of children\u2019s books. He\u2019s just got a kind of genius for rhyming and for nonsense words and for playfulness and this sort of wild, sinister quality that you sometimes get in <\/strong>children\u2019s verse, and fairytales, <\/em>says Hirsch, He\u2019s somewhat poetically or formally somewhat akin to someone like Richard Wilbur<\/a><\/strong> or Anthony Hecht<\/a><\/strong> in our tradition. He\u2019s almost impossible to translate<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although, his most popular book Locomotive<\/a><\/strong> was translated to English by two English translators: Gutteridge and Peace, the fact that Tuwim himself provided English rhymes to this translation and worked closely with the translators very likely contributed to this masterful translation. \u201cLocomotive\u201d was a bestselling book in Poland in 1930s and remains one of the most beloved Polish books for children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first English edition was published in UK in 1940, with illustrations. The same illustrations as original, done by two Tuwim\u2019s friends from Poland who both emigrated to the UK in 1930s: Jan Lewitt and George Him (born Jerzy Himmelfarb in Lodz). Their characteristic style evolved from blending surrealist and cubist tendencies with whimsical humor, they both made the wonderful careers in the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Locomotive<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, with their illustrations, was published in the US just a few years ago, by the Thames and Hudson, and this Polish masterpiece finds fans among American children now. Locomotive is a little like the children\u2019s book \u201cThe little engine that could\u201d. It\u2019s got that kind of charm, that kind of energy<\/em>, says Ed Hirsch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the part two of the video, the 19-year-old Adrian Gnus from Bytom presents a famously controversial Tuwim\u2019s poem called: \u201cTo the Common Man\u201d from 1929. The poem, written almost a century ago, is still powerful, and, as Adrian says, \u201cIt wasn\u2019t I who found this poem – this poem found me.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The poem, which a few years ago was set to the music, understands strongly how war benefits those in power and punishes ordinary people.<\/em> It was criticized as one: too pacifistic, or two: too full of socialist undertones by many groups in Poland. It bears a message which is still relevant. It sounds like a song by Pete Seeger<\/a><\/strong> or Woody Guthrie<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, or a hip hop group,<\/em> Hirsch mentions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julian Tuwim read and understood English, but he was not committed to being in America. While he was living abroad his real life was going on in Poland. After the war he went back to Warsaw at the first opportunity. Tuwim contorted himself to try and embrace the soviet reality and socialist realism. He really tried to believe in the socialist dream, but he increasingly became disillusioned, it was impossible to sustain. And I\u2019m sure that his disillusionment contributed to his to his death. It\u2019s a heartbreaking end to his life. But the work itself is one of the highwater moments of Polish poetry, <\/em>says Edward Hirsh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To the Common Man<\/em>
Julian Tuwim <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the black print sounds alarm 
And freshly posted fliers cry 
\u201cTo the Public,\u201d \u201cFor the Troops\u201d 
When the glue is not yet dry 
And any stud or young recruit 
Will take to heart their age-old lie 
That it\u2019s time to fire the cannons 
To murder, plunder, poison, raze; 
When they start to tout \u201cour country\u201d 
in a thousand worn clich\u00e9s 
Incite with ostentatious flags 
And champion the \u201chistoric right\u201d 
to every inch, to glory, might 
That now has come the time to fight 
For our fathers, and forefathers, 
Avenge the heroes or the victims,  
And when bishop, pastor, rabbi come 
to place a blessing on your gun 
Because God whispered the command: 
go and defend the fatherland 
When tabloid headlines spread their noise, 
vulgar, nefarious, savage and crude 
and frenzied women in wild herds 
sprinkle rose petals on our boys 
\u2014 Hey listen, my untutored friend 
Brother from this or another land 
Know that it\u2019s kings and portly men 
who ring the bells that sound alarm; 
And know that it\u2019s bull, a common ruse 
When they cry out: \u201cShoulder arms!\u201d 
That for them somewhere gushes crude 
Meaning some hefty sacks of cash 
And bank accounts do not add up 
Or that they caught the whiff of bucks 
And that those fat pigs hedged their bets 
With an import tax on cigarettes. 
Go drum your guns on cobblestones 
It is your blood and their crude! 
And let your voices linger on 
It\u2019s your wage that your blood has won: 
\u201cWhat you\u2019re selling we won\u2019t buy!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

translated, from Polish, by Joanna Trzeciak-Huss<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Do prostego cz\u0142owieka<\/em>
Julian Tuwim<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gdy zn\u00f3w do mu\u00adr\u00f3w klaj\u00adstrem \u015bwie\u00ad\u017cym
Przy\u00adle\u00adpia\u0107 za\u00adczn\u0105 ob\u00adwiesz\u00adcze\u00adnia,
Gdy „do lud\u00adno\u00ad\u015bci”, „do \u017co\u0142\u00adnie\u00adrzy”
Na alarm czar\u00adny druk ude\u00adrzy
I byle drab, i byle szcze\u00adniak
W od\u00adwiecz\u00adne k\u0142am\u00adstwo ich uwie\u00adrzy,
\u017be trze\u00adba i\u015b\u0107 i z ar\u00admat wa\u00adli\u0107,
Mor\u00addo\u00adwa\u0107, gra\u00adbi\u0107, tru\u0107 i pa\u00adli\u0107;
Gdy za\u00adczn\u0105 na ty\u00adsi\u0119cz\u00adn\u0105 mo\u00add\u0142\u0119
Oj\u00adczy\u00adzn\u0119 szar\u00adpa\u0107 de\u00adkli\u00adna\u00adcj\u0105
I \u0142u\u00addzi\u0107 ko\u00adlo\u00adro\u00adwym go\u00add\u0142em,
I ju\u00addzi\u0107 „hi\u00adsto\u00adrycz\u00adn\u0105 ra\u00adcj\u0105”,
O pi\u0119\u00addzi, chwa\u00adle i ru\u00adbie\u00ad\u017cy,
O oj\u00adcach, dzia\u00addach i sztan\u00adda\u00adrach,
O bo\u00adha\u00adte\u00adrach i ofia\u00adrach;
Gdy wyj\u00addzie bi\u00adskup, pa\u00adstor, ra\u00adbin
Po\u00adb\u0142o\u00adgo\u00ads\u0142a\u00adwi\u0107 tw\u00f3j ka\u00adra\u00adbin,
Bo mu sam Pan B\u00f3g szep\u00adn\u0105\u0142 z nie\u00adba,
\u017be za oj\u00adczy\u00adzn\u0119 – bi\u0107 si\u0119 trze\u00adba;
Kie\u00addy roz\u00ad\u015bcier\u00adwi si\u0119, roz\u00adcha\u00admi
Wrzask li\u00adter pierw\u00adszych stron dzien\u00adni\u00adk\u00f3w,
A sta\u00addo dzi\u00adkich bab – kwia\u00adta\u00admi
Ob\u00adrzu\u00adca\u0107 za\u00adcznie „\u017co\u0142\u00adnie\u00adrzy\u00adk\u00f3w”. –
– O, przy\u00adja\u00adcie\u00adlu nie\u00aduczo\u00adny,
M\u00f3j bli\u017a\u00adni z tej czy in\u00adnej zie\u00admi!
Wiedz, \u017ce na trwo\u00adg\u0119 bij\u0105 w dzwo\u00adny
Kr\u00f3\u00adle z pa\u00adna\u00admi brzu\u00adcha\u00adte\u00admi;
Wiedz, \u017ce to buj\u00adda, gran\u00adda zwy\u00adk\u0142a,
Gdy ci wo\u00ad\u0142a\u00adj\u0105: „Bro\u0144 na ra\u00admi\u0119!”,
\u017be im gdzie\u015b naf\u00adta z zie\u00admi si\u00adk\u0142a
I ob\u00adro\u00addzi\u00ad\u0142a do\u00adla\u00adra\u00admi;
\u017be co\u015b im w ban\u00adkach nie szty\u00admu\u00adje,
\u017be gdzie\u015b zw\u0119\u00adszy\u00adli kasy pe\u0142\u00adne
Lub upa\u00adtrzy\u00ad\u0142y t\u0142u\u00adste szu\u00adje
C\u0142o ja\u00adkie\u015b grub\u00adsze na ba\u00adwe\u0142\u00adn\u0119.
R\u017cnij ka\u00adra\u00adbi\u00adnem w bruk uli\u00adcy!
Two\u00adja jest krew, a ich jest naf\u00adta!
I od sto\u00adli\u00adcy do sto\u00adli\u00adcy
Za\u00adwo\u00ad\u0142aj bro\u00adni\u0105c swej krwa\u00adwi\u00adcy:
„Bu\u00adja\u0107 – to my, pa\u00adno\u00adwie szlach\u00adta!”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Julian Tuwim<\/strong>, (born September 13, 1894, \u0141\u00f3dz, Poland, Russian Empire [now in Poland]\u2014died December 27, 1953, Zakopane), lyric poet who was one of the leaders of the 20th-century group of Polish poets called Skamander (*).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Closely associated with and cofounder of Skamander, Tuwim began his career in 1915 with the publication of a flamboyant Futurist manifesto that created a scandal. His poetry was marked by explosive energy, great emotional tension, and linguistic inventiveness, demonstrated not only in his lyrical poems but also in nursery rhymes. Among his works published before World War II are Czyhanie na Boga<\/em> (1918; \u201cLying in Wait for God\u201d), Sokrates ta\u0144cz\u0105cy<\/em> (1920; The Dancing Socrates and Other Poems<\/em>), and his most important collections, S\u0142owa we krwi<\/em> (1926; \u201cWords in Blood\u201d) and Biblia cyga\u0144ska<\/em> (1933; \u201cThe Gypsy Bible\u201d). Because of his Jewish background, Tuwim fled the country at the outbreak of the war. He eventually spent seven years abroad, first in Brazil\u2014where he wrote his long, quasi-epic poem Kwiaty polskie<\/em> (1949; \u201cPolish Flowers\u201d)\u2014and then in the United States. He returned to Poland in 1946 but wrote little of poetic value thereafter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(*) Skamander<\/strong>, group of young Polish poets who were united in their desire to forge a new poetic language that would accurately reflect the experience of modern life. Founded in Warsaw about 1918, the Skamander group took its name, and the name of its monthly publication, from a river of ancient Troy. The group was founded by Julian Tuwim and other poets. Tuwim, a lyrical poet of emotional power and linguistic sensitivity, is best remembered for the collections Czyhanie na Boga<\/em> (1918; \u201cLying in Wait for God\u201d) and Biblia cyga\u0144ska<\/em> (1933; \u201cThe Gypsy Bible\u201d) and for the long poem Kwiaty polskie<\/em> (1949; \u201cPolish Flowers\u201d). Also associated with the group were Kazimierz Wierzy\u0144ski, Jan Lecho\u0144 (pseudonym of Leszek Serafinowicz), and Antoni S\u0142onimski.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among sympathizers with Skamander were Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, who had a gift for expressing emotion, and W\u0142adys\u0142aw Broniewski, a powerful lyrical poet who used traditional metres and forms to express concern with current social and ideological problems. A sympathizer of great importance was Boles\u0142aw Le\u015bmian, considered the outstanding 20th-century Polish lyrical poet. His symbolic Expressionist poetry\u2014collected in \u0141\u0105ka<\/em> (1920; \u201cThe Meadow\u201d), Nap\u00f3j cienisty<\/em> (1936; \u201cThe Shadowy Drink\u201d), and Dziejba le\u015bna<\/em> (1938; \u201cWoodland Tale\u201d)\u2014is remarkable for the inventiveness of its vocabulary, its sensuous imagery, and philosophic content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biography source: Britannica<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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More<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n