Nocte ludos, czyli nocne zawody. Wokół nokturnu 7 Władysława Sebyły
Nocte ludos or Nighttime Competition. On Nocturne 7 by Władysław Sebyła

Author(s): Jan Piotrowiak
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Literary Texts, Studies of Literature, Polish Literature, Philology, Theory of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Summary/Abstract: Sebyła’s nocturne designated in the cycle as number sever (7) can be easily inscribed into the imagery of the night and the accompanying images of parvor nocturnus. It is the only poem in the cycle which emphasizes the exposition of the subject’s activity, giving primacy to the first-person monologue of the subject, the agent of a nighttime competition with an angel (God). Moreover, it is the only poem in this cycle which clearly hints at autobiographical context – familial gestures or celebration of remembrance. The nocturnal tale spun by Sebyła focuses on an event which originates in the biblical story of Jacob wrestling with an Angel, while at the same time revisiting (reinterpreting) its sense and message. Into this poetic somnambulia of a personal, particular, biographical (that of the unequal wrestling competition between the new Jacob and God) scope, the author inscribed an account of universal experiences – the incidental nature of human disposition, the fragility of the human condition, the loneliness of existence. The poet seems to tell his reader that it is necessary to accept a difficult, asymmetrical partnership and nonequivalent relations and thus tame our mundane spiritual orphanage.

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