Adam Asnyk (11 September 1838 – 2 August 1897), was a Polish

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...

and

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

of the Positivist era. Born in

Kalisz (The oldest city of Poland) , image_skyline = , image_caption = ''Top:'' Town Hall, Former "Calisia" Piano Factory''Middle:'' Courthouse, "Gołębnik" tenement''Bottom:'' Aerial view of the Kalisz Old Town , image_flag = POL Kalisz flag.svg ...

to a

szlachta The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in ...

family, he was educated to become an heir of his family's estate. As such he received education at the Institute of Agriculture and Forestry in Marymont and then the Medical Surgeon School in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

. He continued his studies abroad in Breslau,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German: ') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students ...

. In 1862 he returned to

Congress Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. I ...

and took part in the

January Uprising The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...

against Russian rule. Because of that he had to flee his country and settled in Heidelberg, where in 1866 he received a doctorate of philosophy. Soon afterwards he returned to Poland and settled in the Austrian-held part of the country, initially in

Lwów Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in Western Ukraine, western Ukraine, and the List of cities in Ukraine, seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is o ...

and then in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...

Life and work

In 1875 Asnyk married Zofia

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Kaczorowska, with whom he had a son, Włodzimierz, and around that time started his career as a journalist. An editor of a Kraków-based ''Reforma'' daily, in 1884 he was also chosen to the city council of Kraków. Five years later he was elected to the

Diet of Galicia and Lodomeria *german: Landtag von Galizien , native_name_lang = , transcription_name = , legislature = , coa_pic = Wappen Königreich Galizien & Lodomerien.png , coa_caption = Coat of arms of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodome ...

. Around that time he became one of the most prominent men of culture in

partitioned Poland Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of ...

. Among his initiatives was the creation of the Society of Popular Schools and bringing the ashes of

Adam Mickiewicz Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (; 24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. A principal figure in Polish Ro ...

to Poland. He was also among the first members of the Tatra Society. He died on 2 August 1897 in Kraków and was buried at the

Skałka Saint Michael the Archangel and Saint Stanislaus the Bishop and Martyr Basilica, also known as Skałka, which means "a small rock" in Polish, is a small outcrop in Kraków atop of which a Pauline monastery is located, a place where the Bish ...

church, a burial place for some of the most distinguished Poles, particularly those who lived in Kraków.

Mastery of Verse

Adam Asnyk was a master of verse. Some of his poems, for example ''Ulewa'' (''The Heavy Rain'') or ''Daremne żale'' (''The Vain regrets''), are among the best examples of iambic metre in all of Polish literature. He also used sophisticated strophes, for instance

ottava rima Ottava rima is a rhyming stanza form of Italian origin. Originally used for long poems on heroic themes, it later came to be popular in the writing of mock-heroic works. Its earliest known use is in the writings of Giovanni Boccaccio. The o ...

. The poem ''Wśród przełomu'' (''At the breakthrough'') is perhaps the first use of

rhyme royal Rhyme royal (or rime royal) is a rhyming stanza form that was introduced to English poetry by Geoffrey Chaucer. The form enjoyed significant success in the fifteenth century and into the sixteenth century. It has had a more subdued but continuing ...

in original Polish poetry. His versification was often discussed by prominent Polish scholars, among others by Maria Dłuska and Lucylla Pszczołowska.See also: Wiktor Jarosław Darasz, ''Mały przewodnik po wierszu polskim'', Kraków 2003 (in Polish).

Books of poetry

* ''Nad głębiami'' (''Over the Depths'') (1883–1894) * ''Poezje'' (''Poetries'') (1869) * ''Poezje'' (''Poetries'') (1872) * ''Poezje'' (''Poetries'') (1880) * ''Poezje'' (''Poetries'') (1894)

References

External links

*
Polish Literature in English Translation: Adam Asnyk
* *
Adam Asnyk
collected works (Polish) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Asnyk, Adam 1838 births 1897 deaths People from Kalisz People from Kalisz Governorate 19th-century Polish nobility Members of Polish government (January Uprising) Members of the Diet of Galicia and Lodomeria Polish poets 19th-century Polish writers 19th-century poets University of Breslau alumni University of Paris alumni Heidelberg University alumni Congress Poland expatriates in France Congress Poland expatriates in Germany Polish positivism