Roman correspondence by Norwid

Abstract

The aim of the article is to investigate the Roman correspondence by Cyprian Norwid. As far as this author is concerned the term: Roman correspondence can imply some different issues, like the letters written during Norwid’s four visits to the Eternal City within the space of the years 1844-1849, some later correspondence referring to Rome and expressing the author’s longing for this place, letters to the members of the Congregation of the Resurrection in Rome etc. There is also a category of correspondence in which Norwid poses as an ancient Roman using some Latin words or structures typical of Roman correspondence: such words as: Vale, Latin forms of expressing the date and place (ex. Lutetiae Parisiorum) or initial formulae including the greeting and the names of the addresser and addressee. There are also very interesting letters in which Norwid exactly identifies himself with Ovidius. Such Norwid’s letters connected with the ancient Rome is the main subject of this article. Most of them Norwid wrote in 1860s, when he most probably began to write letters with the mentioned elements. These letters result from some Norwid’s special sense of Roman identity, which is emphasised by the expression: Civis Romanus that Norwid used with regard to himself in some of these letters. The article analyses the way in which Norwid understood his “Roman identity” and why he was defining himself as a “Roman citizen”. The general conclusion is that such references in Norwid’s letters are connected with his sense of many-sided alienation. They are considerably different from the ,,Roman letters” written by Norwid, co-creating the romantic Rome of artists, in the years 1844-1849.