Czechowicz and the Town

Abstract

The poems devoted to Lublin belong to the best achievements of Czechowicz's lyrics. The poet's close ties with his home town not only have an emotional character, but they are also a connection providing intellectual inspiration from the old walls of the town. In the mediaeval fresco by Master Andrew painted in the Castle Chapel the poet discovers aesthetic ideas close to modern art. Analysis of the poem Wieniawa that belongs to the series Poemat o mieście Lublinie [Poem of the town of Lublin] shows how that inspiration penetrates the structure of the avant-garde poet's works. Czechowicz devoted a considerable proportion of his output, not only poetical, to Lublin. He wrote numerous articles and sketches about Lublin, its history, legends, architecture; a fragment of the unfinished novel Podróż do Lublina [Journey to Lublin] has been preserved; there are also numerous photographs of the town. The author of the article compares Poemat o mieście Lublinie with a series of photographs taken by Czechowicz when he was working on the poem. The confrontation of the two times: the historical one, shown by the photos, and the mythical timelessness in which the town presented in Poemat exists, reveals a dramatic vision in which the poetical myth of a saved town is tied in one tight knot with the tragic history of an exterminated town and with the poet's equally tragic biography.