Poles are celebrating 650th JUBILEE of the Jagiellonian University.
Polacy obchodzą 650 rocznicę powstania Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego.
The Kraków University is the oldest higher education institution in Poland and one of the oldest in Europe. It was founded on 12 May 1364 by the Polish king Casimir the Great.
Krakowski Uniwersytet jest najstarszą wyższą uczelnią w Polsce i jedną z najstarszych w Europie. Został ufundowany 12 maja 1364 roku przez polskiego króla Kazimierza Wielkiego.
From the foundation charter issued by king Casimir the Great on 12 May 1364:
…Let it be a pearl of the inestimable sciences
so that it may bring forth men outstanding for the maturity of their counsel,
pre-eminent for their virtue, and well qualified in all the branches of knowledge…
Z dokumentu fundacyjnego wystawionego przez króla Kazimierza Wielkiego 12 maja 1364 roku:
…Niechże tam będzie nauk przemożnych perła,
aby wydała męże dojrzałością rady znakomite,
ozdobą cnót świetne i w różnych umiejętnościach wyuczone…
Święto Narodowe Trzeciego Maja. Rocznica uchwalenia pierwszej polskiej konstytucji.
National 3rd of May Holiday. Anniversary of the First Polish Constitution
3 maja 179`1 uchwalono Konstytucję Rzeczypospolitej Obojga Narodów – pierwszą w Europie i drugą, po amerykańskiej, w świecie.
On May 3, 1791, the Constitution of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was adopted. It was the the first constitution of modern Europe and second in the world, following the American one.
Text below and clip by msiobob/youtube
Mam zaszczyt przedstawić „Te Deum laudamus” Giovanniego Paisiello (1740-1816). Utwór skomponowany w Neapolu, z inicjatywy Króla Stanisława Augusta Poniatowskiego był wykonany w Warszawie w 1. rocznicę uchwalenia Konstytucji 3 Maja, następnie w r. 1802 w Paryżu dla uświetnienia pokoju w Amiens i 2 grudnia 1804 w czasie koronacji Napoleona na cesarza Francji.,
Obraz pt. „Konstytucja Trzeciego Maja” namalowal Jan Matejko (1838-1893).
I have a honour to introduce to you „Te Deum laudamus” by Giovanni Paisiello (1740-1816).
Composed in Naples, in 1791, this work was performed in Warsaw, under the initiative of King Stanisław August Poniatowski, to mark the first anniversary of the Constitution of 3 May 1791. Later, it was performed in Paris, in 1802, to mark the Peace of Amiens, and on 2 December 1804, during Napoleon’s crowning as French emperor.
Painting: „The Constitution of May 3, 1791” by Jan Matejko (1838-1893).
„WITAJ MAJ, 3 MAJ, DLA POLAKÓW BŁOGI RAJ”.
„WELCOME TO MAY, THE THIRD MAY, THE POLES BLISSFUL PARADISE!”.
Taras Szewczenko (1814-1861) to najwybitniejszy ukraiński pisarz, a także znakomity malarz. (Obejrzyj jego autoportret). Szewczenko ukształtował podwaliny pod nowoczesny literacki język ukraiński.
Taras Shevchenko (1814-1861) is the greatest Ukrainian writer and outstanding painter as well. (See his self-portrait). Shevchenko has created the foundation of the modern literary Ukrainian language.
Artysta marzył o wolnej Ukrainie.
The artist dreamed about Ukraine as an independent state.
Szewczenko żył tylko 47 lat, lecz zaledwie 9 jako wolny człowiek: 24 lata był chłopem pańszczyźnianym, 10 lat spędził na wygnaniu, na które skazał go car za udział w walce o wolną Ukrainę. Pisarz ukształtował podwaliny nowoczesnego literackiego języka ukraińskiego.
Shevchenko lived only 47 years but merely 9 as a free man: 24 years he spent in serfdom, 10 in exile as a prisoner of tsar for participating in a secret long-term battle for free Ukraine.
Ironia losu. Świętowanie 200. rocznicy urodzin Tarasa Szewczenki ma miejsce w marcu 2014, kiedy rosyjskie wojska okupują ukraiński Krym.
The Irony of Fate. Celebration the 200th Anniversary of Birth of Taras Shevchenko takes place on March, 2014 when Russian Troops occupy Ukraine’s Crimea.
This special entry is for my international readers 🙂
I’ ve promised to write about Julian Tuwim on the occasion of his tribute year. Tuwim published his first poem, Plea (Prośba) , a hundred years ago in the „Kurier Warszawski” newspaper. Eventually, Tuwim became one of the most renowned Polish writers, deeply rooted in Poland and its literary tradition. In addition to many volumes of poetry he also wrote for children. His brilliant and funny poem The Locomotive (Lokomotywa) shaped the language and imagination of many generations of Polish youngsters.
Tuwim’s poetry is famous for its incredibly rich, flexible, beautiful and elegant language which, at times, does not shy from biting or coarse expressions.
Watch and hear below:
I have the honour to present this Tuwim’s poem in an excellent and charming translation, as well as performance, by Marcel Weyland, an outstanding writer and translator.
Just a moment, please! First, kindly read Tuwim’s short bio:
J U L I A N T U W I M
Born: September 13, 1894, Łódź, Poland, into a middle-class family
Died: December 27, 1953 (aged 59), Zakopane, Poland
Occupation: Poet
Nationality: Polish
Ethnicity: Jewish
Literary movement: Skamander
Notable award: Golden Laurel of the Polish Academy of Literature (1935)
Parents: Izydor and Adela (nee Krukowski, shot by German Nazis in Otwock’s Gettho in 1942)
Spouse: Stefania Tuwim nee Marchew (since 1919)
Children: Ewa Tuwim-Woźniak
Relatives: Irena Tuwim (sister, a poet herself); Kazimierz Krukowski (cousin, a Polish-Jewish cabaret performer and writer); great pianist Arthur Rubinstein; Adam Czerniaków, a Polish-Jewish engineer and senator, who committed a suicide in the Warsaw Ghetto, uncle by marriage.
Most important life events:
Studies (law and philosophy at the Warsaw University.) Co-funding the literary group „Skamander” and the „Picador” cabaret. Writing for and acting as artistic director of several other cabarets. Emigration, at the beginning of WWII, to France, Brazil and finally the USA. Return to Poland in 1946, where his more modest creativity contrasted with his extensive prewar writing and performing.
Attention: behold, The Locomotive!
Last but not least: why did I name Tuwim The Most Beautiful Poet?
Maria Kuncewiczowa (1895-1989), a writer, explains this well :
Tuwim with his gorgeous mole on his cheek . Apparently this mole gave him an inferiority complex. Hard to believe. I doubt that he would have been more beautiful without the mole, since he was so attractive with it. I imagined that the Persian poet Hafiz looked just like him and I was surprised not to see Tuwim walk a gazelle on a silver chain through the city streets.
Bibliografia / Bibliography
Chosen texts:
. Czyhanie na Boga (Lurking for God, 1918)
. Sokrates tańczący (Dancing Socrates, 1920)
. Siódma jesień (The Seventh Autumn, 1921)
. Wierszy tom czwarty (Poems, Volume Four, 1923)
. Murzynek Bambo (Bambo the little Negro, 1923)
. Czary i czarty polskie (Sorcery and Deuces of Poland, 1924)
. Wypisy czarnoksięskie (The Reader of Sorcery, 1924)
. A to pan zna? (And do you know it?, 1925)
. Czarna msza (Black Mass, 1925)
. Tysiąc dziwów prawdziwych (A Thousand Real Curiosities, 1925)
. Słowa we krwi (Words in Blood, 1926)
. Tajemnice amuletów i talizmanów (The Secrets of Amulets and Talismans, 1926)
. Polityczna szopka cyrulika warszawskiego (The Political Puppet Theatre of a Warsaw Barber, 1927)
. Rzecz czarnoleska (A Tale of Czarnolas, 1929)
. Jeździec miedziany (The Bronze Horseman, 1932)
. Biblia cygańska i inne wiersze (Gypsy Bible and Other Poems, 1932)
. Jarmark rymów (Rhyme Market, 1934)
. Polski słownik pijacki i antologia bachiczna (The Polish Drunkard’s Dictionary and the Bacchic Anthology, 1935)
. Treść gorejąca (Burning Content, 1936)
. Bal w Operze ( Ball at the Opera,1936, published 1946)
. Kwiaty polskie (Polish Flowers,1940-1946, published 1949)
. Pegaz dęba, czyli panoptikum poetyckie (Pegasus Rearing, or a Poetic Panopticum, 1950)
. W oparach absurdu (In the Fumes of Absurdity, 1958)
Dzień Dziecka obchodzimy w Polsce 1 czerwca. Polacy lubią to święto na przekór jego korzeniom. Dzień Dziecka został ustanowiony w Moskwie, stając się jedną z podstaw stalinowskiej „propagandy pokoju” w byłych państwach socjalistycznych, także w Polskiej Republice Ludowej (1945-1989). Tradycja świętowania przetrwała w wolnej Polsce.
Mam zaszczyt przedstawić wiersz Karola Wojtyły w tłumaczeniu Jerzego Pietrkiewicza.
In Poland, Children’s Day is celebrated on June 1. Poles like this feast in spite of its roots: Children’s Day was established in Moscow and was strongly bound to Stalin’s „peace propaganda” policy in former socialist countries including „People’s Republic of Poland” (1945-1989). This tradition has survived up until today in free Poland.
I have the honour of introducing to you a poem by Karol Wojtyla translated by Jerzy Pietrkiewicz.
DZIECI
Dorastają znienacka przez miłość, i potem tak nagle dorośli
trzymając się za ręce wędrują w wielkim tłumie —
(serca schwytane jak ptaki, profile wrastają w półmrok).
Wiem, że w ich sercach bije tętno całej ludzkości.
Trzymając się za ręce usiedli cicho nad brzegiem.
Pień drzewa i ziemia w księżycu: niedoszeptany tli trójkąt.
Mgły nie dźwignęły się jeszcze. Serca dzieci wyrastają nad rzekę.
Czy zawsze tak będzie — pytam — gdy wstaną stąd i pójdą?
Albo też jeszcze inaczej: kielich światła nachylony wśród roślin
odsłania w każdej z nich jakieś przedtem nie znane dno.
Tego, co w was się zaczęło, czy potraficie nie popsuć,
czy będziecie zawsze oddzielać dobro i zło?
CHILDREN
Growing unawares through love, of a sudden
they’ve grown up, and hand in hand wander in crowds
(their hearts caught like birds, profiles pale in the dusk).
The pulse of mankind beats in their hearts.
On a bank by the river, holding hands—
a tree stump in moonlight, the earth a half-whisper—
the children’s hearts rise over the water.
Will they be changed when they get up and go?
Or look at it this way: a goblet of light tilted
over a plant reveals unknown inwardness.
Will you be able to keep from spoiling what has begun in you?
Will you always separate the right from the wrong?
Below: a scene from Andrzej Wajda’s Pan Tadeusz an adaptation of Adam Mickiewicz’s 19th-century epic poem.
Original music composed by Wojciech Kilar, composer and pianist, author of orchestral music, chamber vocal-instrumental and piano compositions, and scores for the theatre and cinema.
On May 3, 1791, the Constitution of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was adopted. It was the first constitution of modern Europe and second in the world, following the American one. It was a significant achievement of the Polish Enlightenment thinkers.
Only two days after the Constitution had been passed by the Grand Sejm [Polish Parliament] (1788-1792), the 3rd of May was established a national holiday, and subsequently it was suspended for a long time due to the country’s partitioning. It was reinstituted after Poland regained its freedom in 1918. After World War II, in 1946, the communist authorities forbade its public celebration, and attempts of manifestations were suppressed by militiamen. In 1951 the holiday was officially cancelled. Since 1990 the 3rd of May Holiday has again been celebrated as an official statutory holiday in Poland, and a red-letter day. Since 2007 it has also been the national holiday of Lithuania.
Particularly solemn atmosphere can be observed during the major 3rd of May Holiday celebrations before the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Piłsudski Square in Warsaw. They involve a military parade, volleys, ceremonious change of guards, laying wreaths. Representatives of the top Polish state authorities, military authorities, clergy, as well as representatives of the diplomatic corps, veterans, scouts and thousands of Warsaw residents pay tribute to the accomplishment of eminent Poles.
The 3rd of May Holiday is a joyful occasion. Spring events, concerts, family picnics are held throughout Poland. The streets of the Polish capital city see a great number of people running under the slogan “From the 3rd May Constitution to the European Union”.
Dzisiaj, 23 kwietnia, obchodzimy Światowy Dzień książki i Praw Autorskich, święto organizowane przez UNESCO, mające na celu promocję czytelnictwa, edytorstwa i ochronę własności intelektualnej.Wesołego czytania!
Today, on 23 April, we are celebrating World Book and Copyright Day organized by UNESCO to promote reading, publishing and copyright. Merry reading!
Ściskając w ramionach na pół uduszone od dymu niemowlę
biegła z krzykiem schodami podpalonego domu.
Z pierwszego piętra na drugie.
Z drugiego na trzecie.
Z trzeciego na czwarte.
Aż wyskoczyła na dach
i zachłysnąwszy się powietrzem, uczepiona komina
spojrzała w dół, skąd dobiegał
szelest podchodzących coraz wyżej płomieni.
Wtedy znieruchomiała i umilkła.
Milczała już do końca, aż do chwili,
gdy nagle zacisnęła powieki,
zrobiła krok ku krawędzi dachu i wysuwając przed siebie ręce
upuściła dziecko w dół.
Dwie sekundy wcześniej, nim skoczyła sama.
THE GHETTO: A MOTHER
Cuddling in the arms her half-asphyxiated baby, howling,
she ran up the staircase of the apartment building that was set ablaze.
From the first floor to the second.
From the second to the third.
From the third to the fourth.
Until she had jumped onto the roof.
There, having choked with air, clinging to the chimney,
she looked down from where she could hear
the crackle of flames which were reaching higher and higher.
And then she became motionless and silent.
She kept silent to the end, till the moment
at which she suddenly clenched her eyelids,
stepped to the roof edge and, throwing forward her arms,
she dropped her baby down.
Two seconds earlier than she herself leapt down.
ANNA ŚWIRSZCZYŃSKA (1909–1984)
Anna Swirszczyńska (also known as Anna Swir) was born in Warsaw to an artistic though impoverished family. She studied medieval Polish literature. In the 1930s she worked for the teachers’ association, served as an editor, and began publishing poetry. Swirszczyńska joined the Resistance during World War II and worked as a military nurse during the Warsaw Uprising; at one point she came within an hour of being executed before she was spared. In addition to poetry, which deals with themes such as motherhood, the female body, and sensuality, Swirszczyńska wrote plays and stories for children and directed a children’s theater. She lived in Krakow from 1945 until her death in 1984.
Poetry collections
Wiersze i proza (Poems and Prose) (1936)
Liryki zebrane (Collected Poems) (1958)
Czarne słowa (Black Words) (1967)
Wiatr (Wind) (1970)
Jestem baba (I am a Woman) (1972)
Poezje wybrane (Selected Poems) (1973)
Budowałam barykadę (Building the Barricade) (1974)
Szczęśliwa jak psi ogon (Happy as a Dog’s Tail) (1978)
Cierpienie i radość (Suffering and Joy) (1985)
Collections in English translation
Thirty-four Poems on the Warsaw Uprising (1977), New York. Transl.: Magnus Jan Kryński, Robert A. Maguire.
Building the Barricade (1979), Kraków. Transl.: Magnus Jan Kryński, Robert A. Maguire.
Happy as a Dog’s Tail (1985), San Diego. Transl.: Czesław Miłosz i Leonard Nathan.
Fat Like the Sun (1986), London. Transl.: M. Marshment, G. Baran.
Talking to My Body (Copper Canyon Press, 1996) Transl.: Czesław Miłosz i Leonard Nathan.
Building the Barricade and Other Poems of Anna Swir Tr. by Piotr Florczyk (Calypso Editions, 2011).
ALE KSIĄŻKI / AND YET THE BOOKS 