POLISH LITERATURE. 180 POLISH LITERATURE. pearcd, and from those the period of Romanti- cism was dated. These were by Adam Mickio- wicz (q.v.) (1798-1855), the greatest name in Polish literature. They exposed the aiitlior to attack from the adlierents of rseudo-Classicisni, but soon these were either turned into ronianties or were siU-nced. liefore lon^; the opposition to the romantie movement resulted in the exile of Aliekiewiez and others, and almost all the poets then emifrrated. Closely allied with Mickiewiez were poets of nearly equal power, as Kraslnski (q.v.), who befrau with universal ideals (in his I'ndiiine ComiJii) and then narrowed down to pure nationalism (in Iriidion. Patni, and I'siiliiis of the Future). I'nlike him, Slowacki had a definite purpose. l!ein<; a ]>ron<uinccd <l('mocrat, he endcavcjred to trace in a series of jioelic works the democratic tendencies in the eultuie and po- litical development of Poland. Around these three great poets gathered a number of lesser lights like Zan, Garczinski, Witwieki. Gorecki, Odynicc, and others. Bit soon the leaders be- came mystics. Slowacki"s i)oems became so misty aiid involved that they were no longer understood. However, the clouds of mysticism passed away, and a more speculative and calm attitude toward reality set in among the work- ers. Wikenly I'ol representee! tile Jiast ill an ideal light. Sigismund Kaczkowski and Rzewuski ablv seconding him in his elforls. Ludwik Koiulratowicz (1823-02. pseudonym Wladislaw Syrokonila ) , in his stories in verse, was the in- spired singer of the aspirations of peasants and the small bourgeoisie. Lenartowiez (lS22-i).3) took his themes Irom popular legends, preserv- ing tlii'ir siiiijilicily in a delicate poetic form. After the apathy inimediaiely following the revo- lution of lS:!0-;il wore away, tlicre grew up a group of 'enthusuists,' who wanted another revolution. Among the poets, who, with the ex- ception of Pol and Kondratowicz. were all lor revolution. Ujejski in his llihiicnl Mtlodirs, and Jeremiuli's Liimi'iil described Poland under the name of .Judea, and his Choral became the na- tional anthem. This pcrioil of storm and stress evolvi'd two distinct currents of ]ii>litical and philosophical thought in Polish literature: one turbuleni (jioetry) tending toward revolution, the other calm (novel and romance) toward grad- ual evolution. The novel, which was originally purely sentimental, received its high state of per- fection at the bands of Kraszewski (q.v.) (1S12- 87). MoDEHX Perioo (1802-1 nOO). Kraszewski re- llccted in his writings all the various currents of thought, ever seeking the •golden mean.' Josef Korzeniowski was a deejier ))sychologist, and preached more ])rogressivc ideas, especially combating the ))reju(lices of the nobility. Among those who idealized reality, Cliodzko, Czaj- kowski. and the poetess .ladwiga Luszczewska may be mentioned. Zygmunt Milkowski (pseu- donym .le^l was an energetic chamnion of deinocratic ideas, even in his historical novels, and Zachariasiewicz with Plug (pseudonym of Pietkiewicz) followed closely in his steps. This period was in the beginning very similar to that subsequent to 1831. only the hope for resto- ration was weakened still more. The character- i.stic feature was the growth of the periodical press, which soon took the lead in the spiritual life of Poland. Books were printed in cheap edi- tions in great quantities to supply the demand for them among the masses. Positivism, eco- nomic questions, the material and sjiiritual wel- fare of the country were now of paraiiunint im- portance. The cliief organs for sjireading these views were the Wcrhli/ h'rricw and Triilli. of the monthlies, the Athcnaum, reiirescnting the pro- gressive elements. The Wiirsair Lilinnj/ being the mouthpiece of the conservatives. About the mid- dle of the seventies the strife between the two camps lost a good deal of its bitterness. In the three parts of the former Poland all cll'orts are directed toward the moral and intellectual uplifting of the masses, with the Warsaw weekly, The 'oice, as champion of the jicople's riglits. All these economic, political, and jihilosophical tendencies have found expression in literature, lyric jioctry being least inlluenced by the various currents of thought. At the head of lyric poets stands Adam Astryk (1838-07), a master of form. Jlarya Konopnicka pleads the causp of the 'downtrodden and oppressed' in her lyrics, and she is famous for her short stories. The two writers mentioned have also distin- guished themselves in the department of drama. Wiktor Gonnilicki is the 'poet of natiire and feeling,' possessing an unusually tender and ex- pressive style. The comedy of the present diiy deals chielly with social questions, in a light, .satirical way. It is livelv and witt.v, the situa- tions are natural, and the action is interesting and rapid. The most jirominent writer of come- dies is Kredro the younger. Historical dramas, written bj- Szu.jski and others, are not V('rv nu- nieroiA, and are not so well liked by the jniblio as dramas of manners and social quest ions. Among the writers of modern dramas Alcksaiider Swctocliowski. W'aclaw Karczcwski. and W'lad- islaw Rabski hold an important place. The cliicf characteristics of the modern novel are a highly perfected technique and great variety in the sub- .jects, the characters dejiicted, and the tendencies of the authors. For these reasons the modern Pol- ish novel is more full.y representative of the epoch than is drama or poetry. Its brightest names are Sienkiewicz, Bolcslaw Prus, and Eliza Orzesz- kowa. Of the latest writers Kleniens Junosza has drawn in a plastic and humorous style the life of peasants, ,Icws, and the small nobility; Ignacy Macicjowski also depicts peasant life; Balueki lashes the shortcomings of the contem- porary Polish nobility: D.vgasinski deals with life in the country. Several rather unsuccessful attempts have been made to introduce novels in the style of the French naturalistic school, while other "wTiters try to keep up the traditions of Kraszewski, The perindical Life, founded in Cracow in 181)7 by Ludwik Szcz<'panski, is the organ of this so-called Young Poland, Stanislaw I'rzybyshewski being the literary leader, BiBLiooHAPiiY. In Polish: Wiszniewski, Bis- tor;/ of Polh-Ji Literature (10 vols,, Cracow, 18-40-57) ; Macie.jowski, Polish Literature (3 vols,, Warsaw, 1851-53) (both reach only to the middle of the seventeenth century) ; Zdano- wicz-Sowillski, Outline of the Iliatorii of PoHah , Literature (Vilna, 1874-78) ; Kondratowicz, j History of Literature in Poland (Vilna, ^ 1851-54) ; Bartoszewicz, llistori/ of Polish Literature (Cracow, 1877) ; Dubiecki, History of Polish Literature (Warsaw, 188n) ; Biegelei- sen. Illustrated History of Polish Literature, vol, i, (Vienna, 18!)8). In German; Lipnicki, Gcschichte der pulnischen National- Li tteratur
