KOCHANOWSKI, JAN. - Poet, b. at Sycyna in 1530, d. at Lublin on 22 Aug. 1584, is the dominant figure in the golden age of Polish literature. He studied at the Academy of Cracow, then at the University of Padua; he traveled in Italy and France. Having returned to his homeland, he was secretary to King Sigismund Augustus; later he retired to the quiet of the ancestral home at Czarnolas.
K.'s work, essentially lyrical, is characterized by a profound religiosity and a serene Horatian balance; in his poetry the classicism of the Renaissance, assimilated in Italy, and a fresh, spontaneous national inspiration blend harmoniously. Some poems on various subjects (Pieśń o potopie, "Song on the Flood"; Szachy, "Chess") were followed by others that show the poet's interest in the life of his country (Zgoda, "Concord"; Satyr, "The Satyr"; Proporzec, "The Standard," the finest, in which Virgilian accents are found) and by the tragedy: Odprasca poślów greckich ("The Refusal of the Greek Envoys"). But the measure of K.'s genius is given by the Praszki ("Trifles"), short lyrics by turns playful, amorous, satirical; and by the Pieśni ("Songs"), Horatian in tone. K.'s masterpiece is the one inspired in him by the grief of losing his little daughter Ursula, which he poured out in the Treny, with the profoundly human accent of a father's anguish comforted by faith, in forms so vivid that they appear to have been written today. Finally, among K.'s works mention is made of a folkloristic poem (Pieśń Świętojańska o Sobótce, "Song of St. John at the Sobótka," a Polish popular festival) and of the translation of the Davidic Psalter, a work of high value for the philological perfection of its interpretation and the beauty of its verse. Through the variety of the psalms K. established the system of Polish metrics; a title, this too, that earned him being called "father of national poetry."
Bibliography3 works
Marina Bersano Begey