Selected Poems of Tadasu Ruzевич (Volume 1 and 2)

Author: Tadeusz Ró?ewicz
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-04-14
Features: Tadeusz Ró?ewicz (1921—) is not only a renowned poet on the world literary stage but also a famous playwright and writer. A series of absurdist dramas he created and performed after the war hold an undisputed representative status in Poland and have had a significant impact in the West. His works have been translated into multiple languages and published. According to the consensus of the Polish literary world, he is the most prolific and accomplished writer since Jaros?aw Iwaszkiewicz (1894—1980), the long-serving president of the Polish Writers' Union in the mid-19th century, whose vast and diverse body of work has become a classic of 20th-century Polish literature. Tadeusz Ró?ewicz was born on October 9, 1921, in the Radomszczany district of ?ód? Province, Poland. In the late 1930s, while attending the Radomszczany High School, he began publishing his poems. In 1938, due to financial difficulties at home, he had to graduate early from high school. The following year, in early 1939, he enrolled in a forestry school in D?browa Górnicza, but he dropped out after the German fascists invaded Poland. After that, he worked as a clerk and liaison officer in government offices in Radomszczany and as a laborer in the Solart Metal Factory. In 1942, after studying for a period at the Home Army Officer School (established by the Polish government-in-exile in London within Poland), he joined the Home Army guerrilla resistance movement against fascism the following year. He participated in battles in the valleys between the Warta and Bia?ka rivers and other locations, and he also edited the newspaper Armed Action and was responsible for educational work within the troops. For his patriotic actions during this period and his outstanding contributions to the struggle for Poland's national independence, he received the Polish Military Medal after the war, the Home Army London Cross in 1974, and the "Storm" Action Medal in August 1981 in Minsk. In 1944, under the pseudonym Satur, he published a collection of poetry, prose, and humorous works titled Echoes from the Forest. In 1945, he entered the Jagiellonian University in Kraków to study art history. In 1946, he published a poetry collection titled A Little Spoon of Water, Satirical Works. After graduating from university in 1949, he moved to the G?ogów County in the Kraków Voivodeship and has lived in Wroc?aw since 1968. Tadeusz Ró?ewicz's first published poetry collection, Restlessness, came out in 1947. Most of the works in this collection drew from the social realities of Poland before and during the fascist occupation, and because of their innovative ideological and artistic style, they garnered attention from Polish critics. The following year, he published another poetry collection titled A Red Glove. Subsequently, he published a series of early works, including Five Long Poems (1950), The Coming Age (1951), Poetry and Painting (1952), The Plain (1954), Silver Ear (1955), Smile (1955), and An Open Long Poem (1956). Starting with the poetry collection Form published in 1958, and continuing with A Conversation with the Prince (1960), The Green Rose (1961), Nothing in Prospero's Cloak (1962), The Third Face (1968), The Imperial City (1969), The Soul (1977), Short Stories with Trauma (1979), Low Relief (1991), Eternal Fragments (1996), and the two poetry collections The Gray Zone and Appendix published in 2003, these belong to the poet's middle and later works. Tadeusz Ró?ewicz's poetry is accessible in language but profound in meaning. The poet skillfully uses metaphors, symbols, artistic allusions, or employs techniques such as transferring emotions to scenes, blending scenery and emotion, personification, or objectification to imbue his works with rich poetic and artistic charm, allowing readers to appreciate the beauty of art within them and feel the enduring truths they contain. In many of his works, Tadeusz Ró?ewicz has repeatedly articulated his poetic views. He advocates creative freedom, believing that "modern poetry is a battle for free breathing." However, he also points out that an era has ended, and a new one has begun. Artists must take responsibility to create works worthy of our time, to reflect reality and life truthfully, especially the lives of the working class. He compares the world we live in to a great tree and poets to a group of children. The children are protected by the tree, singing and dancing around it, and the lives of the people are the source of poetic creation. The poet once humbly said: "My poetry explains nothing, clarifies nothing, excludes nothing—it encompasses everything but fails to fulfill people's hopes."