Cyprian Norwid

Template:Short description Template:Good article Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox writer Cyprian Kamil NorwidTemplate:Efn ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}; Template:Awrap – 23 May 1883) was a Polish poet, dramatist, painter, sculptor, and philosopher. He is now considered one of the four most important Polish Romantic poets, though scholars still debate whether he is more aptly described as a late romantic or an early modernist.

Norwid led a tragic, often poverty-stricken life. He experienced mounting health problems, unrequited love, harsh critical reviews, and increasing social isolation. For most of his life he lived abroad, having left Polish lands in his twenties. Having briefly travelled across Western Europe in his youth, and briefly travelling to United States, where he worked as an illustrator, he lived chiefly in Paris, where he eventually died.

Considered a "rising star" in his youth, Norwid's original, nonconformist style was not appreciated in his lifetime. Partly due to this, he was excluded from high society. His work was rediscovered and appreciated only after his death by the Young Poland movement of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Today his most influential work is considered to be Vade-mecum, a vast anthology of verse he finished in 1866. Much of his work, including Vade-mecum, remained unpublished during his lifetime.

LifeEdit

YouthEdit

File:Poland-01123 - Chopin's Home (31218962135).jpg

South annex of Czapski Palace (Krakowskie Przedmieście 5, Warsaw), where Chopin lived to 1830. In 1837–39 Norwid studied painting here.

Cyprian Norwid was born on 24 September 1821 into a family of Polish–Lithuanian minor nobility bearing the Topór coat of arms,<ref name=":0" />Template:Rp<ref name=":10" />Template:Rp in the Masovian village of Laskowo-Głuchy near Warsaw,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp His father was a minor government official.<ref name=":10" />Template:Rp One of his maternal ancestors was the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania John III Sobieski.<ref name=":10" />Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

Cyprian Norwid and his brother Template:Ill were orphaned early. His mother died when Cyprian was four years old, and in 1835 his father also died: Norwid was 14 at the time.<ref name=":10" />Template:Rp<ref name=":1" /> For most of their childhood, Cyprian and his brother were educated at Warsaw schools.<ref name=":1" /> In 1836 Norwid interrupted his schooling (not having completed the fifth grade)<ref name=":10">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp and entered a private school of painting, studying under Aleksander Kokular and Template:Ill.<ref name=":10" />Template:Rp<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His incomplete formal education forced him to become an autodidact, and eventually he learned a dozen languages.<ref name=":10" />Template:Rp<ref name="Lyszczyna 2016">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<ref name=":9222"/>Template:Rp

Norwid's first foray into the literary sphere occurred in the periodical Piśmiennictwo Krajowe, which published his first poem, Mój ostatni sonet (My Last Sonnet), in 1840s issue 8.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp That year he published ten poems and one short story.<ref name=":10" />Template:Rp His early poems were well received by critics and he became a welcome guest at the literary salons of Warsaw; his personality of that time is described as that of a "dandy" and a "rising star" of the young generation of Polish poets.<ref name=":9222"/>Template:Rp<ref name=":10" />Template:Rp In 1841-1842 he travelled through the Congress Poland with Template:Ill.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":10" />Template:Rp

EuropeEdit

File:Rekopis chopin.jpg

Manuscript of "Chopin's Piano"

In 1842 Norwid received inheritance funds as well as a private scholarship to study sculpture and left Poland, never to return.<ref name=":10" />Template:Rp<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":9222"/>Template:Rp First he went to Dresden in Germany. He later also visited Venice and Florence in Italy; in Florence he signed up for a course in sculpture at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze.<ref name=":1" /> His visit to Verona resulted in a well-received poem Template:Ill (In Verona) published several years later.<ref name=":10" />Template:Rp After he settled in Rome in 1844, where for several years he became a regular at Caffè Greco,<ref name=":9222">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp his fiancée Kamila broke off their engagement.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Later he met Maria Kalergis, née Nesselrode; they became acquaintances, but his courtship of her, and later, of her lady-in-waiting, Maria Trebicka, ended in failure.<ref name=":1" /> The poet then travelled to Berlin, where he participated in university lectures and meetings with local Polonia. It was a time when Norwid made many new social, artistic and political contacts. At that time he also lost his Russian passport, and after he refused to join the Russian diplomatic service, the Russian authorities confiscated his estate. He was also arrested for trying to cross back to Russia without his passport, and his short stay in Berlin prison resulted in partial deafness.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":9222" />Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> After being forced to leave Prussia in 1846, Norwid went to Brussels.<ref name=":1" /> During the European Revolutions of 1848, he stayed in Rome, where he met fellow Polish intellectuals Adam Mickiewicz and Zygmunt Krasiński.<ref name=":1" />

During 1849–1852, Norwid lived in Paris, where he met fellow Poles Frédéric Chopin and Juliusz Słowacki,<ref name=":1" /> as well as other emigree artists such as Russians Ivan Turgenev and Alexander Herzen, and other intellectuals such as Jules Michelet (many at Emma Herwegh's salon).<ref name=":4">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<ref name=":5" />Template:Rp Financial hardship, unrequited love, political misunderstandings, and a negative critical reception of his works put Norwid in a dire situation. He lived in poverty, sometimes forced to work as a simple manual laborer.<ref name=":9222"/>Template:Rp He also suffered from progressive blindness and deafness, but still managed to publish some content in the Polish-language Parisian publication Goniec polski and similar venues.<ref name=":9222"/>Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> 1849 saw several of his poems published, those included among others his Template:Ill (Social Song).<ref name=":5" />Template:Rp Some of his other notable works from that period include the drama Template:Ill and the philosophical poem-treaty about the nature of art, Template:Ill, both published in 1851.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Promethidion, a long treatise on aesthetics in verse, has been called "the first important piece of Norwid's writing".<ref name=":5" />Template:Rp It was, however, not well received by contemporary critics.<ref name=":5" />Template:Rp That year also saw him finishing the manuscripts for the dramas Template:Ill and Template:Ill<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and the poem Bema pamięci żałobny rapsod (A Funeral Rhapsody in Memory of General Bem).<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

United StatesEdit

Norwid decided to emigrate to the United States in the Fall of 1852, receiving some sponsorship from Wladysław Zamoyski, a Polish nobleman and philanthropist.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp On 11 February 1853, after a harrowing journey, he arrived in New York City aboard the Margaret Evans, and he held a number of odd jobs there, including at a graphics firm.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":9">Template:Cite journal</ref> He was involved in the creation of the memorial album of the Crystal Palace Exhibition and the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations.<ref name=":9222"/>Template:Rp<ref name=":5" />Template:Rp<ref name=":9" /> By autumn, he learned about the outbreak of the Crimean War. This, as well as his disappointment with America, which he felt lacked "history", made him consider a return to Europe, and he wrote to Mickiewicz and Herzen, asking for their assistance.<ref name=":9222"/>Template:Rp<ref name=":3">Template:Cite journal</ref>

Back in ParisEdit

During April 1854, Norwid returned to Europe with Prince Template:Ill. He lived in England and with Krasiński's help he was finally able to return to Paris by December that year.<ref name=":3" /> Over the next few years Norwid was able to publish several works, such as the poem Template:Ill (Quidam. A Story, 1857) and stories collected in Template:Ill (Black Flowers) and Template:Ill (White Flowers), published in Template:Ill in 1856–1857.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5" />Template:Rp<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He gave a well-received series of six lectures on Juliusz Słowacki in 1860, published the next year.<ref name=":5" />Template:Rp 1862 saw the publication of some of his poems in an anthology Poezje (Poems) at Brockhaus in Leipzig.Template:Efn<ref name=":5" />Template:Rp<ref name=":9222"/>Template:Rp He took a very keen interest in the outbreak of the 1863 January Uprising (a Polish–Lithuanian revolt against the Russian Empire). Although he could not participate personally due to his poor health, Norwid hoped to personally influence the outcome of the event by establishing a newspaper or magazine; that project however did not come to fruition.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> His 1865 Template:Ill (Chopin's Piano) is seen as one of his works reacting to the January Uprising.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":4" />Template:Rp The poem's theme is the Russian troops' 1863 defenestration of Chopin's piano from the music school Norwid attended in his youth.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

Norwid continued writing, but most of his work met with little recognition. He grew to accept this, and even wrote in one his works that "the sons pass by this writing, but you, my distant grandchild, will read it... when I'll be no more" (Template:Ill, The Hands Were Swollen by Clapping..., 1858).<ref name=":5" />Template:Rp

File:Norwid1861.jpg

Norwid, Paris, 1861

In 1866, the poet finished his work on Vade-mecum, a vast anthology of verse. However, despite his greatest efforts it could not be published until decades later.<ref name=":1" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<ref name=":8">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> One of the reasons for this included Prince Władysław Czartoryski failing to grant the poet the loan he had promised. In subsequent years, Norwid lived in extreme poverty and suffered from tuberculosis.<ref name=":4" />Template:Rp During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, many of his friends and patrons were distracted with the global events: Norwid experienced starvation, and his health further deteriorated.<ref name=":5" />Template:Rp Material hardships did not stop him from writing: in 1869 he wrote Template:Ill (A Poem About the Freedom of the Word), a long treatise in verse about the history of words, which was well received at that time. The next year he wrote Template:Ill, a poem reflecting his views on Christian love, which Hungarian poet George Gömöri called Norwid's "most successful narrative poem".<ref name=":5" />Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Those years also saw him write three more plays, comedies Template:Ill (Actor. Comedy-drama, 1867), Template:Ill (Behind the Scenes, 1865–1866), and Template:Ill (The Ring of a Grand Lady, 1872), which Gömöri praised as Norwid's "real genre within the theater".<ref name=":5" />Template:Rp The latter play became Norwid's most frequently performed theater piece, although like many of his works, it gained recognition long after his death (published in print in 1933, and staged in 1936).<ref name=":5" />Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Template:Efn

In 1877 his cousin, Template:Ill relocated Norwid to the Template:Ill (Œuvre de Saint Casimir) on the outskirts of Paris in Ivry.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5" />Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> That location, run by Polish nuns, was home to many destitute Polish emigrants.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":9222"/>Template:Rp There, Norwid was befriended by Teodor Jełowicki who also gave him material support.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Some of his final works include a comedy play Template:Ill (Pure Love at Sea Baths, 1880), the philosophical treatesie Template:Ill (Silence, 1882), and novels Template:Ill (written c. 1881–83), Stygmat (Stigmata, 1881–82) and Tajemnica lorda Singelworth (The Secret of Lord Singelworth, 1883).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Throughout his life, he also wrote many letters, over a thousand of which survived to be studied by scholars.<ref name=":1" />

During the last months of his life, Norwid was weak and bed-ridden. He frequently wept and refused to speak with anyone. He died in the morning of 23 May 1883.<ref name=":1" /> Jełowicki and Kleczkjowski personally covered the burial costs, and Norwid's funeral was also attended by Franciszek Duchiński and Template:Ill.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> After 15 years the funds to maintain his grave dried out and his body was moved to a mass grave of Polish emigrants.<ref name=":1" />

Themes and viewsEdit

Norwid's early style could be classified as belonging within the romanticism tradition, but it soon evolved beyond it.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<ref name=":7" />Template:Rp Some scholars consider Norwid to represent late romanticism, while others see him as an early modernist.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5" />Template:Rp Polish literary critics, Template:Ill, Tamara Trojanowska and Joanna Niżyńska described Norwid as "a 'late child' and simultaneously a great critic of Romanticism" and "the first post-Romantic poet [of Poland]".<ref name=":6">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Danuta Borchardt who translated some of Norwid's poems to English wrote that "Norwid's work belongs to late Romanticism. However, he was so original that scholars cannot pigeonhole his work into any specific literary period".<ref name=":7" />Template:Rp Czesław Miłosz, a Polish poet and Nobel laureate, wrote that "[Norwid] preserved complete independence from the literary currents of the day".<ref name=":9222"/>Template:Rp This could be seen in his short stories, which went against the common trend in the 19th century to write realistic prose and instead are more aptly described as "modern parables".<ref name=":9222" />Template:Rp

File:Szyndler Cyprian Kamil Norwid.jpg

Norwid in 1882, by
Pantaleon Szyndler

Critics and literary historians eventually concluded that during his life, Norwid was rejected by his contemporaries as his works were too unique. His style increasingly departing from then-prevailing forms and themes found in romanticism and positivism, and the subjects of his works were also often not aligned with the political views of the emigre Poles.<ref name=":1" /><ref>Template:Cite book Translated to Polish as in: Jauss, Hans Robert. "Przedmowa do pierwszego niemieckiego wydania Vade-mecum Cypriana Norwida. (Przełożył z języka niemieckiego Michał Kaczmarkowski)." [Preface to the first German edition of Cyprian Norwid's Vade-mecum. (Translated from German by Michał Kaczmarkowski)] Studia Norwidiana 3 (1986): 3-11.</ref><ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref> His style was criticized for "being obscure and overly cerebral" and having a "jarring syntax".<ref name=":7" />Template:Rp<ref name=":9222"/>Template:Rp Even today, a number of scholars refer to his works, in this context, as "dark", meaning "weird" or "difficult to understand".<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

While Norwid did not create neologisms, he would change words creating new variations of existing language, and he also experimented with syntax and punctuation, for example through the use of hyphenated words, which are uncommon in the Polish language. Much of his work is rhymed, although some is seen as a precursor to free verse that later became more common in Polish poetry.<ref name=":7" />Template:Rp Miłosz noted that Norwid was "against aestheticism", and that he aimed to "break the monotony... of the syllabic pattern", purposefully making his verses "roughhewn".<ref name=":9222"/>Template:Rp

While Norwid displays a Romantic admiration for heroes, he almost never addresses the concept of romantic love.<ref name=":5" />Template:Rp Norwid attempted to start new types of literary works, for example "high comedy" and "bloodless white tragedy". His works are considered to be deeply philosophical and utilitarian, and he rejected "art for art's sake".<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":9222" />Template:Rp He is seen as a harsh critic of the Polish society as well as of mass culture. His portrayal of women characters has been praised as more developed than that of many of his contemporaries, whose female characters were more one-dimensional.<ref name=":1" /> Borchardt summarized his ideas as "that of a man deeply distressed by and disappointed in mankind, yet hopeful of its eventual redemption".<ref name=":7" />Template:Rp Miłosz pointed out that Norwid used irony (comparing his use of it to Jules Laforgue or T. S. Eliot), but it was "so hidden within symbols and parables" that it was often missed by most readers. He also argued that Norwid is "undoubtedly... the most 'intellectual' poet to ever write in Polish", although lack of audience has "permitted him to indulge in such a torturing of the language that some of his lines are hopelessely obscure".<ref name=":9222" />Template:Rp

Norwid's works featured more than purely Polish context, employing pan-European, Greco-Christian symbology.<ref name=":5" />Template:Rp They also endorsed orthodox Christian, Roman Catholic views;<ref name=":1" /> in fact Gömöri argues that one of his major themes was "the state and future of Christian civilization".<ref name=":5" />Template:Rp Miłosz similarly noted that Norwid did not reject civilization, although he was critical of some of its aspects; he saw history as a story of progress "to make martyrdom unnecessary on Earth".<ref name=":9222" />Template:Rp Historical references are common in Norwid's work, which Miłosz describes as affected by "intense historicism".<ref name=":9222" />Template:Rp Norwid's stay in America also made him a supporter of the abolitionist movement, and in 1859 he wrote two poems about John Brown Do obywatela Johna Brown (To Citizen John Brown) and John Brown.<ref name=":9222"/>Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Another recurring motif in his work was the importance of labor, particularly in the context of artistic work, with his discussions of issues such as how artists should be compensated in the capitalistic society - although Miłosz noted that Norwid was not a socialist.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5" />Template:Rp<ref name=":9222" />Template:Rp

Norwid's work has also been treated as deeply philosophical.<ref name="Lyszczyna 2016" /><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Miłosz also noted that some consider Norwid to be a philosopher more than an artist, and indeed Norwid has inspired, among others, philosophers such as Stanisław Brzozowski. Nonetheless, Miłosz disagrees with that notion, quoting Mieczysław Jastrun who wrote that Norwid was "first of all, an artist, but an artist for whom the most interesting material is thought, reflection, the cultural experience of mankind".<ref name=":9222" />Template:Rp

Legacy and commemorationEdit

Following his death, many of Norwid's works were forgotten; it was not until the early 20th century, in the Young Poland period, that his finesse and style was appreciated.<ref name=":9222"/>Template:Rp<ref name=":7">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp At that time, his work was discovered and popularised by Zenon Przesmycki, a Polish poet and literary critic who was a member of the Polish Academy of Literature. Przesmycki started republishing Norwid's works c. 1897, and created an enduring image of him, one of "the dramatic legend of the cursed poet".<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":9222"/>Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Norwid's "Collected Works" (Dzieła Zebrane) were published in 1966 by Template:Ill, a Norwid biographer and commentator. The full iconic collection of Norwid's work was released during the period 1971–76 as Pisma Wszystkie ("Collected Works"). Comprising 11 volumes, it includes all of Norwid's poetry as well as his letters and reproductions of his artwork.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

On 24 September 2001, 118 years after his death, an urn with soil from the collective grave where Norwid had been interred in Paris' Montmorency cemetery was buried in the "Template:Ill" at Wawel Cathedral. There, Norwid's remains were placed next to those of fellow Polish poets Adam Mickiewicz and Juliusz Słowacki. During a mass held at the cathedral, the Archbishop of Kraków, cardinal Franciszek Macharski said that the doors of the crypt have opened "to receive the great poet, Cyprian Norwid, into Wawel's royal cathedral, for he was an equal of kings".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2021, on the 200th anniversary of Norwid's birth, the brothers Stephen and Timothy Quay produced a short film titled Vade-mecum about the poet's life and work in an attempt to promote his legacy among foreign audiences.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Norwid is often considered the fourth more important poet of the Polish romanticism, and called the Fourth of the Three Bards.<ref name=":6" />Template:Rp In fact, some literary critics of the late 20th-century Poland were skeptical as to the value of Krasiński's work and considered Norwid to be the Third bard instead of Fourth.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Well known in Poland, and a part of Polish school's curricula, Norwid nonetheless remains obscure in English-speaking world.<ref name=":2" /> He has been praised as the best poet of the 19th century by Joseph Brodsky and Tomas Venclova.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Miłosz notes he has become recognized as a "precusor of modern Polish poetry".<ref name=":9222"/>Template:Rp

The life and work of Norwid have been subject to a number of scholarly treatments. Those include the English-language collection of essays about him, published after a 1983 conference held to commemorate century since his death (Cyprian Norwid (1821-1883): Poet - Thinker - Craftsman, 1988) <ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> or monographs such as Template:Ill's (2016) Cyprian Norwid. Poeta wieku dziewiętnastego (Cyprian Norwid. A Poet of the Nineteenth Century).<ref name="Lyszczyna 2016"/> An academic journal dedicated to the study of Norwid, Template:Ill, has been published since 1983.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

WorksEdit

File:Norwid Relief.jpg

Bas relief of Norwid, Wawel Cathedral

Norwid authored numerous works, from poems, both epic and short, to plays, short stories, essays and letters. During his lifetime, according to Miłosz<ref name=":9222"/>Template:Rp and Gömöri,<ref name=":5" />Template:Rp he published only one large volume of poetry (in 1862)Template:Efn (although Borchardt mentions another volume from 1866<ref name=":7" />Template:Rp). Borchardt considers his major works to be Vade-mecum, Promethidion and Ad leones!.<ref name=":7" />Template:Rp Miłosz acknowledged Vade-mecum as Norwid's most influential work, but also praised the earlier Bema pamięci rapsod żałobny as one of his most famous poems.<ref name=":9222" />Template:Rp

Norwid's most extensive work,Vade-mecum, written between 1858 and 1865, was first published a century after his death.<ref name=":8" /> Some of Norwid's works have been translated into English by Walter Whipple and Danuta Borchardt in the United States of America, and by Jerzy Pietrkiewicz and Adam Czerniawski in Britain.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> A number have also received translations to other languages, such as Bengali,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> French,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> German,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Italian,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Russian,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Slovakian<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and Ukrainian.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

From May 2024, an autograph copy of Vade-mecum is presented at a permanent exhibition in the Palace of the Commonwealth.<ref name="bn-open">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="palace">Template:Cite book</ref> There are also presented two albums Orbis I and Orbis II, containing Norwid's original works and copies of works in various media, in addition to hand written notes, magazine cuttings and photographs.<ref name="palace" />