Leopold Staff’s and Bolesław Leśmian’s Bees. Parallels and Dissonances Cover Image

Pszczoły Leopolda Staffa i Bolesława Leśmiana. Paralele i dysonanse
Leopold Staff’s and Bolesław Leśmian’s Bees. Parallels and Dissonances

Author(s): Bartłomiej Borek
Subject(s): Comparative Study of Literature, Polish Literature, Theory of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: Bolesław Leśmian; Leopold Staff; Pszczoły; bees; death; being; ship of Theseus;

Summary/Abstract: The text presents an interpretation of poetical pieces by Bolesław Leśmian and Leopold Staff with the same title: Pszczoły (“The Bees”). What constitutes the departure point for the said analyses is a prolific metaphor theme that has been present in interpretative discourse since Antiquity, namely that of the “bee-poet”, but also identifying those insects with the Death, the mystery of existence, and with the being, all of which facilitates the reading of these two forgotten poems of Polish modernism in terms of the sacred (sacrum) and existence as well as the identity of beings (the latter category is referred to in interpretation via the ship of Theseus paradox).

  • Issue Year: 2020
  • Issue No: 1 (15)
  • Page Range: 1-12
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: Polish