Editions of poetry by Mieczysław Romanowski versus the poet’s Tyrthean canon

Abstract

Mieczysław Romanowski is one of the few domestic poets who have lived to see so many editions of his poetry. His undoubted talent, as well as the legend of the “poet-insurgent” that surrounded him, contributed to the fact that while other domestic Romantics fell into oblivion, Romanowski’s works continued to be published. However, the legend of the hero of the January Uprising meant that each of these editions created a Tyrthean canon of the poet’s work. This is because they gave the false impression that his poetry was dedicated solely to the national liberation cause.

The author of the article looks at the means by which editorial procedures were used to create the poet's Tyrthean canon, and focused in particular on Jan Amborski’s four-volume edition of 1883. It was Amborski who, in preparing his edition, made a selection of Romanowski's manuscripts, thereby indicating which works he thought were worth remembering for their patriotic character.

The article shows how much a new critical edition of the poet’s texts is needed; an edition that would include not only a Tyrthean selection of his works, but also reach out to hitherto unknown autographs of diverse subject matter. Such an edition would show us a different – much richer and more complex – picture of Romanowski as an artist. Thanks to it, we will gain an awareness that our previous knowledge of the literary output of this most outstanding representative of the last generation of Romantics has been limited mainly to the legend of “poet-insurgent”.