Mickiewiczowski „płaz w skorupie”. Między poezją a paleontologią
Mickiewicz’s ‘amphibian in the shell’. Between poetry and palaeontology

Author(s): Jerzy Axer
Subject(s): Studies of Literature, Polish Literature, 19th Century, Theory of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Mickiewicz; Ode to Youth; Nautilus pompilius; Ludwik Henryk Bojanus; palaeontology
Summary/Abstract: The article concerns the genesis of the motif of an ‘amphibian in a shell’, i.e. the marine cephalopod 'Nautilus pompilius or Argonauta argo', capable of using the wind to move above the surface of the water, in Adam Mickiewicz’s poem 'Ode to Youth', which was an artistic manifesto for Polish Romanticism. The sources of the motif have already been indicated in the literature: ancient (Musaios, Ovid) and Enlightenment (Jacques Delille, translated by Alojzy Feliński). In the poem, Mickiewicz departed from the traditional perception of 'Nautilus', who since antiquity had been regarded not only as beautiful but also as a model of mathematical perfection. He stripped him of all his cherished attributes, exposed his stubborn persistence in the same shape from antediluvian times to the present day, his unresponsiveness to the dramatic transformations of the surrounding world, his predatory nature and complete self-sufficiency. He showed him as a selfish amphibian who does not cooperate with anyone, does not belong to any community, is separate. He has constructed a symbol of extreme conservatism. The author of the article reflects on the role of the lectures Mickiewicz listened to at Vilnius University: the classical philologist Godfryd Ernest Groddeck and – definitely of less interest to researchers so far – the naturalist Ludwik Henryk Bojanus, thanks to whom the poet learned about the latest discussions related to the birth of new scientific disciplines: palaeontology with elements of geology and comparative anatomy. The author puts forward the thesis that the ‘amphibian in the shell’ was born in Mickiewicz’s imagination ‘at the meeting point’ of the influences of the two charismatic teachers.

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