Polish Poetry Unites is a new video series for anyone interested in literature, history and reading. In each episode Edward Hirsch, a distinguished American poet, and the president of the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, will introduce a celebrated Polish poet to American audiences.
Edward Hirsch says: Julian Tuwim (1894-1953) is a remarkable poet. He’s probably the most important Polish poet between World War I and World War II. He was a Jew and a Pole. He wasn’t very committed to his Jewishness; he was tremendously committed to his Polishness. He believed in the Polish literary and cultural tradition and contributed a tremendous amount to it. He was one of the founding members of a group called Skamader.
This group was vital and completely committed to the present. They believed in a kind of vital Bergsonian commitment to life. They were also traditionalists poetically, they believed in the sanctity of a good rhyme, in the importance, almost the divine quality of rhythm. The- the nature of poetic form. This makes their work extremely difficult to translate, said Edward Hirsch in the beginning of his introduction of the poet to the American audiences.
Julian Tuwim’s epic poem “Polish Flowers” was finished during the World War II in New York City, where he managed to escape with his wife, Zofia.
Tuwim is best known as a poet of children’s books. He’s just got a kind of genius for rhyming and for nonsense words and for playfulness and this sort of wild, sinister quality that you sometimes get in children’s verse, and fairytales., says Hirsch, He’s somewhat poetically or formally somewhat akin to someone like Richard Wilbur or Anthony Hecht in our tradition. He’s almost impossible to translate.
Although, his most popular book Locomotive was translated to English by two English translators: Gutteridge and Peace. The fact that Tuwim himself provided English rhymes to this translation and worked closely with the translators very likely contributed to this masterful translation. “Locomotive” was a bestselling book in Poland in 1930s and remains one of the most beloved Polish books for children.
The first English edition was published in UK in 1940, with the illustrations. The same illustrations as original, done by two Tuwim’s friends from Poland who both emigrated to the UK in 1930s: Jan Lewitt and George Him. (born Jerzy Himmelfarb in Lodz. Their characteristic style evolved from blending surrealist and cubist tendencies with whimsical humor, they both made the wonderful careers in the UK.
Moderator: Edward Hirsch
Writer and Director: Ewa Zadrzyńska
Cinematography: Jacek Mierosławski
Editor: Anna Jędrzejewska
Curator and Executive Producer: Bartek Remisko
Learn more: instytutpolski...
Негізгі бет Julian Tuwim - POLISH POETRY UNITES
Пікірлер: 4