“Monument” or “Fortress”? Some remarks on Mickiewicz’s paraphrase of Horace’s ode Cover Image

Pomnik czy twierdza? Kilka uwag o Mickiewiczowskiej parafrazie Horacjańskiej pieśni
“Monument” or “Fortress”? Some remarks on Mickiewicz’s paraphrase of Horace’s ode

Author(s): Barbara Brzuska
Subject(s): Literary Texts
Published by: Wydział Polonistyki Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Horacy; Mickiewicz; Puszkin; recepcja; interpretacja; Horace; Mickiewicz; Pushkin; reception; interpretation

Summary/Abstract: Adam Mickiewicz’s paraphrase of {Ode} III 30 by Horace has survived in two manuscript versions. In each, however, the incipit of Horace’s verse, treated as the title of the Polish poet’s work, is referred to in a slightly different form and its key word appears in as many as three variants (in two manuscript versions and in the first print edition). This fact and various interpretation possibilities related thereto constitute an essential part of the present remarks. The article ends with a supplement of sorts dedicated to the paraphrase of the same Horatian ode by Pushkin. The poem is a very important element of the Russian Romantic’s oeuvre; it is considered to be his poetic last will and testament. All the more surprising, it might seem, were the problems with its first publication, and some discrepancies in the alterations made in the first edition of the paraphrase by Mickiewicz indicate their common source - the “political incorrectness” of both authors.

  • Issue Year: 2015
  • Issue No: 5 (8)
  • Page Range: 51-71
  • Page Count: 21
  • Language: Polish