Melancholia, choroba, szaleństwo – kompleks staropolskiego poety metafizycznego: idee, inspiracje, motywy, postawy
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Date
2013-12-30
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Wydawnictwo Poznańskiego Towarzystwa Przyjaciół Nauk
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Melancholia, disease, madness – the complex of Old Polish metaphysical poet: ideas, inspirations, motifs, attitudes
Abstract
This article tends to analyse the problems concerning the reception of ancient theory of melancholia, especially
in renaissance and early Baroque literary studies. The melancholia as disease, habit, fear, cognition, meditation,
inspiration and sin, is also very inspiring idea, allowing to understand the essence of Old Polish metaphysical
poetry, in particular the complex of metaphysical poet – his behaviour, reasons, inspirations and attitudes.
Description
On the basis of the sixteenth and seventeenth-century discussions about the poetic inspiration,
the poet’s mental state, developed naturalistic and psychological ideas of poetic madness, categorizing
a state of mind, soul, and imagination of the poet. The source for these considerations were
primarily Aristotle’s writings and theories, concepts, moreover theories of four humors and four
temperaments. Among the theoreticians of the Renaissance and Baroque literature, in the thoughts
of madness (as a form of poetic and divine madness, mania, enthusiasm) central gained concept of melancholia. The form of melancholia was useful to explain, define and classify a number of
phenomena relating to madness in a wide mental, somatic and symbolic dimension.
A very interesting interpretation of the melancholia presented polish philosopher and translator
Sebastian Petrycy. In his translation and appendages to the Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics
(Przydatki do Etyki Arystotelesowej, 1618) melancholy is defined, based on the ancient idea, as
a source of both wit and wisdom (as a gift from God) and madness (Dionysian, divine, poetic and
erotic). The early Baroque theory of melancholia can be useful to understand and analyse Old Polish
metaphysical poetry (Rymy duchowne of Sebastian Grabowiecki and metaphysical poems of
Kasper Twardowski). In Old Polish metaphysical poetry there is full of ideas, themes, motifs and
symbols coincide with the concept of melancholia. The idea of melancholia allows us to understand
more deeply characteristic and specific topics of metaphysical poetry (sin / disease / distress
/ madness), themes (poet / madman / prophet), ideas (madness and loss of sense as an introduction
to meditation) and attitudes (poet experienced by the symbolic, mythical, real and fictional madness).
The problem of melancholia allows us to specify an unusual phenomenon – the complex of
metaphysical poet – to understand a man who was “distraught”, a man “poisoned”, homo (poeta)
melancholicus.
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Keywords
lyric poetry, sin, Old Polish metaphysical poetry, ancient tradition, reception studies, Baroque, renaissance tradition, melancholia, melancholy disease, melancholy habit, mania, saturnine, four humors, four temperaments, black bile
Citation
Symbolae Philologorum Posnaniensium, 2013, nr XXIII/2, s. 171-190.