KASPROWICZ, Jan. - Polish poet, b. at Szymbor on 12 Dec. 1860, d. at Poronin on 2 Aug. 1926. Of peasant stock, he spent his adolescence and youth studying and struggling against poverty. He took part in the resistance against Prussian domination and was imprisoned; in 1889 he settled in Lwów and was appointed professor of comparative literature because of his great philological expertise.
K. is considered one of the greatest poets of his time for the strength and nobility of his inspiration. His early works (Poesje; Z chłopskiego zagonu, "From the Peasant’s Field"; Globa) and the drama Świat się hończy ("The World is Ending") are a powerful depiction of the misery and ignorance of the people. The contrast between spirit and matter, between faith and scepticism, finds sublime expression in the Hymns, in which K. expresses the pain of the human spirit as it struggles with its Creator, but gradually attains a faith that praises Him as the giver of suffering and the stigmata, from which love for creatures is born. The lyric collections that follow are imbued with this love (Chwile, "Moments"; Mój świat, "My World"); and they reach perfection in Księga ubogich ("The Book of the Poor"), which is also pervaded by the beauty of nature. K. was also the author of some epics and a perfect translator of masterpieces from various European literatures.