Wierszowana historiozofia wolności (1773-1830)
The historiosophy of Polish verse

Summary/Abstract: The theme of the article is that of Polish poetry during the Enlightenment and the early Romanticism of modern philosophy of history. Aside from the issues of national history contained in Polish poetry of this period, there can also be seen a common interest in the history of mankind. Polish poets were trying to determine the position of Poland – both ancient and modern – in history. They showed that the course of human history and the different ways of answering the question, what is going on and whether they were governed by a fixed rule of law. Franciszek Karpinski (1741-1825), an outstanding representative of sentimentality, mourned the collapse of the gold noble freedom after the partition of Poland (1772), and recounted history, according to the views of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as a process of the gradual decline of freedom as you moved away from the original state of nature. Jakub Jasinski (1761-1794), in turn, believed that freedom is the natural right of man, and history would fulfil this goal, when the law was restored thanks to the victory of the French Revolution and the Polish uprising against the invaders. Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz (1757-1841) believed, however, that progress is not possible, because human nature is flawed, and the history of mankind is “God’s Playground”. Adam Mickiewicz (1798-1855) and Julius Słowacki (1809-1849), the most prominent poets of Polish romanticism, presented universal history as the progress of freedom. The young Mickiewicz in 1822 identified progress with the implementation of the slogans of the French Revolution, though he was critical of the course that it took. However, Słowacki, during the November Uprising (1830) thought that the ideal system to guarantee individual freedom and the nation was that of the British constitutional monarchy. The verses analyzed in the article show that the Polish poets considered Polish matters in the context of universal history. Their range included both the traditional Polish ideological republican tradition and the thought of Rousseau (Karpinski), the slogans of the French Revolution (Jasinski, Mickiewicz) and British liberalism (Słowacki). However, Niemcewicz was pessimistic and did not believe in progress.

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