Western trends in the Vilnius province – influence of German poets on the ballads of the Philomaths

Abstract

The article describes the influence of foreign, mainly German, literature on the ballads of the Philomaths – Tomasz Zan, Jan Czeczot and Adam Mickiewicz. The inspirations, references, and transformations of literary themes taken from German poets are presented in chronological order.
The article begins with the answer to questions: why and how Zan used Lenora by Gottfried August Bürger in Neryna and Twardowski (common character and versification, intensifying the mood of horror). The full image of foreign references in this poet's work is completed by his version of Arion, based on the literary work by August Wilhelm Schlegel. Philomath used the character of a hero from Hellas, but he presented his fate in a dramatically condensed way. All these references lead to the conclusion that Zan transformed foreign threads in his own way, treating this activity as an exercise in his literary technique.
A similar approach was shown by Jan Czeczot, who focused on native themes – but he added a large dose of humor, which was characteristic also of the most outstanding philosopher-writer, Adam Mickiewicz. The author of Ballady i romanse included in his collection a free translation of Friedrich Schiller’s Rękawiczka. He gave up the local color in it, creating a more “homely” version. In Świtezianka and Pierwiosnek, Mickiewicz referred to Johann Wolfgang Goethe. Świtezianka refers to Rybak with the motif of a fantastic figure emerging from the water. Pierwiosnek, like Fiołek, contains the lament of a metaphorical flower addressed to an insensitive lover.
An analysis of Mickiewicz's references to his masters shows that this poet, like his friends, treated ballads as poetic exercises. He wanted to challenge his favorite writers. At the same time, these references confirm his manifestation of creative freedom. It turns out that the philomath ballads share the same approach to creation in this genre, which has been found in the example of transformations of material taken from foreign literature.