What Does the Angel Speak? In the Margins of Cyprian Norwid's Letter (transl. by Jan Kłos)

Abstract

The poem Letter is relatively early and rather little appreciated but it is a very interested poem that refers to the Revelation of St. John the Divine. This poem transcends the historical and political contexts and speaks much about Norwid's relationship to history, about his anthropology, Christianity and the vision of God. History appears here as a process with a definite direction and goal. It is the process in which man should leave room to God. The text introduces important sacred elements into Norwid's anthropology and stresses that it is necessary to take into consideration God's plans and possible Divine interventions in man's life; it is also necessary to be open to them. Christianity outlined in the Letter is above all the attitude of humility, patience, and endurance on the one hand, and faith, hope and trust on the other hand. God that can be elicited from the poem under study is a transcendent Being, unlimited and indescribable, mighty and just, but also patient, kind, and merciful, always open to man and waiting for his response. All these elements that have their source first of all in the Bible are only outlined in the Letter, and they will come back many times in Norwid's mature writing.