Life’s Work

Abstract

In Norwid’s poetry his contemporaries appear as a cast of characters on whom he projects his own experiences.

Norwid’s readers get a clear impression that his poetry is “historical”, and yet his thinking was quite remote from historiography as a scientific discipline. His poetry is imbued with the personal aspect of history, even though the actors on the historical scene are not always given names. Particularly revealing in this respect is the poetic magnum opus of his life, Vade-mecum.

If one looks for the most general existential formula to apply to this masterpiece, one can try the motto “life is a work” (i.e., life can be transferred into the realm of art).