Romantyczne dziedzictwo Zygmunta Szczęsnego Felińskiego
Zygmunt Szczęsny Feliński’s Romanticist Legacy

Summary/Abstract: The author has set as a goal for himself to try and answer the question whether (and, possibly, to what extent) the literary output of Zygmunt-Szczęsny Feliński may be considered by philologists in terms of Romantic(ist) literature. For one thing, the Archbishop grew up in an environment that placed a strong emphasis on the aspects of national liberation and religion. He was friends with, or a close acquaintance of, the key figures of Polish Romanticism, and himself was heavily affected by the most illustrious Polish penmen of the former half of 19th century. On the other hand, however, the deep worldview shock Feliński experienced resulting from the revolutionary events made him reject the Romanticist ethos of combat for freedom, and implied his mental affiliation with the Positivist circles – and, as a result, joining the clergy. Two pieces by the Warsaw Archbishop are the article’s focus: epic poem Prakseda and drama "Oskar i Wanda". Romanticist motifs and ideas reappearing in Z.S. Feliński’s works are emphasised, including: the cult of national heroes; the Polish Mother ["Matka-Polka"] ideal; zealous religiousness; reference by genre to the output of Juliusz Słowacki and Adam Mickiewicz. However, the answer to the question whether Feliński was the last (or, perhaps, a belated) Romantic, must be negative, at the end of the day – resultant from the research conducted. All the same, the Romanticist literature has marked a rather clear stamp on the literary output of Archbishop Zygmunt Szczęsny Feliński.

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