TOUCHES TO THE CREATIVE PORTRAIT OF “THE HEIR OF BORDERLAND VILLAGEMAN... ” BY CZESŁAW JASTRZĘBIEC-KOZŁOWSKI
Authors:   Taras Shevchenko Institute of Literature, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine, Yerzhykivska Nataliya 
Published: December 2024

The article focuses on the formation, development, and achievements of the Polish poet and translator Czesław Jastrzębiec-Kozłowski. The author examines the Kyiv (1897–1918) and Warsaw (1919–1956) periods of his life and work.

The first one deals with his early poetic attempts, his debut publication in the Warsaw monthly “Pola Esperantisto” (“Polish Esperantist”, 1912), translated poetry by Z. Krasiński. The article presents materials about the publication, co-authored with Tadeusz Ficowski, the father of the future poet and critic J. T. Ficowski (1924–2006), of the first issue of the journal “Pióro. Zeszyt pierwszy” (“Pen. Notebook One”, Kyiv, 1915), dedicated to literature and art. Their sonnets “The Death of God” and «To Mothers of Consolation» are analyzed. The author mentions their

acquaintance with the Polish poet K. Matuszynski, who lived in Kyiv at the time.

Referring to the memoirs of the writer K. Paustowski about T. Ficowski, the author recreates the Kyiv scientific and literary atmosphere and outlines the aesthetic and spiritual needs of university professors, gymnasium students, and students, in particular A. Stepovych, O. Selikhanovych, as well as Kozłowski, Paustowski, Ficowski, and Iwaszkiewicz. The author mentions reading the works of romantic writers, including Byron, E. Poe, A. Mickiewicz, J. Slowacki, representatives of the French poetry group Parnassus, the Damned Poets, and Young Poland, and interest in the philosophical works of W. Wundt, B. Christiansen, and I. Ten.

The article characterizes the Warsaw creative period of Czarist Jastrzębiec-Kozlowski, including his acquaintance with Leopold Staff and other Polish writers of the time. His translations are published: a collection of poems by C. Baudelaire “The Flowers of Evil” (1920), a volume of prose “My Naked Heart. Diaries” (1923), a science fiction novel by Villiers de l’Isle’ Adan “The Future Eve” (1922). After that, his own book “Gałązka zza płotu” (“The Branch from Behind the Raft”, Lviv, 1926) was published, which was welcomed by J. Ivaszkiewicz and reviewed by the poet and prose writer Jerzy Braun.

Attention is paid to C. Jastrzęmbiec-Kozłowski’s long-lasting friendship with J. Braun, their joint work at the Institute of Messianism (1919-1933), and their interest in the system of messianism and the works written in the 40s of the 19th century by J. M. Goenie-Wronski, a Polish mathematician and mystical philosopher, and the J. M. Goenie-Wronski Society founded by J. Braun. J. Braun published the biweekly Zet (1932-1939; from 1937 – monthly issue), which published translations of Ukrainian poets Taras Shevchenko, H. Chuprynka, M. Kotsiubynskyi, P. Tychyna, M. Bazhan, L. Lepkyi, Y. Malaniuk, L. Mosendz, and O. Olzhych were interpreted by Y. Chekhovych, J. Łobodowski, L. Rubakh, K. A. Jaworski, and C. Jastrzębiec-Kozłowski.

The following creative stages of the author of “The Branch from Behind the Raft” are also traced, namely: the publication of the poetry collection “Błękitna brama” (“Blue Gate”, Warsaw, 1934), imbued with philosophical and religious themes, with a preface by L. Staff and translations of works by Croatian and Ukrainian writers.