We do not know exactly from what point the Polish literary historians after Bentkowski date the period of the present literature; as we have not been able to get a view of Wiszniewski's Historya literatury Polskiej, Cracow 1840. We are even not certain, whether the works on literary history, which J.B. Rakowiecki and Prof. Aloys Osinski were said to be preparing about the same time, have ever appeared.
Historya prawodawstw Slowanskich, Warsaw 1832-1835.
Pamietniki o djezach, pismiennictwie i prawodawstwie Slowian, Warsaw 1838. A German translation appeared in 1842, at St. Petersburg: Denkwürdigkeiten über die Begebnisse, das Schriftwesen, und die Gesetzgebung der Slaven.—The same author published more recently a work on the ancient history of Poland and Lithuania: Pierwotne dzieje Polski i Litwy, etc. Warsaw 1846.
Najdawniejsze pomniki praw Slowianskich, Warsaw 1838.
Muczkowski's valuable History of the University of Cracow has been mentioned above, p. 232.
Starozytnosci historyczne Polskie, Cracow 1840.
Starozytnosci Gallicyiskie, Cracow 1841.
Rzut okana zrodta Archæologii Krajowej, Wilna 1842.
Published at the same time in French: Meduilles de Pologne etc., Posen 1838; a splendid work.
Kodex diplomatyczny Polski, Warsaw 1847.
This is the appellation of the Lutherans in Poland.
Historical Sketch of the rise, progress, and decline of the Reformation in Poland, and of the influence which the Scriptural doctrines have exercised on that country in literary, moral, and political respects. By Count Valerian Krasinski. Vol. I. Lond. 1838.
Wiadamosci o Syberyi przcz J.K. 1838.
O Literaturze Polskiey w wieku dziewietnastym, Warsaw 1830; published a few days before the outbreak of the Revolution.
Wizerunki Duszy narodowej, Paris 1847.
Wieczory pielgrzyma, Paris 1837.
This work appeared at the same time in German, accompanied with a preface by the author, written expressly for the German edition. The German title is Vorlesungen über Slavische Literatur und Zustände in den Jahren 1840-1844. 4 vols. Leipzig 1843-44.
Marya, first published at Warsaw 1825; after wards in several different editions, among which may be mentioned here one prepared by Bielowski, Lemb. 1838; and one by Brockhaus and Avenarius, Leipz. and Paris 1844. A beautiful German translation appeared in the same year at Leipzig: Maria, aus dem Polnischen des A. Malczeski von K.R. Vogel.
Powiesci Kosackie, Par. 1837. A German translation by Minsberg, Glogau 1838.
Paris 1838; a German translation, Leipz. 1841.
The two latter appeared at Paris in 1838 and 1841, and were translated into French and German.
See above, p. 290.
"Die Weltgeschichte ist das Weltgericht."
Nieboska Komedya, Paris 1835; ed. 2,1837; Germ. Die ungöttliche Komödie, aus dem Polnischen von K. Batornicki, Leipz. 1841.—Irydion, Par. 1836. This latter has been twice translated into German, Leipz. 1839, and Berlin 1846.
Starozytney wiessci z XI go XVI go i XVII go wieko. The author had published a similar work before. Polish proverbs have also been collected by Knapski and Rysinski.
Zarysy domowe, Warsaw 1841; and Niewasty Polskie, Wars. 1844.
Klechdy, Starozytnye powviesci i podania ludu Polskigo i Rusi, Warsaw 1837.
Piesni ludu bielachrobatow, Mazurow i Rusiz nad Buga, Lemb 1838.
Duma, Dumka, means thought, and is the name of the elegaic, mostly historical, ballads of the Malo-Russian people.
See more on this subject in Part IV.
The title is Spiewy historyczne Cesarstwa Rossyiskiego, i.e. Historical songs of the Russian emperors.
The English reader will find further information on Polish literature in Bowring's Introduction to his Polish Anthology, Lond. 1827; in Ljach Szyrma's Letters on Poland, published in London; and in an article on Polish Literature in the Foreign Quarterly Review, Vol. XXV. No. 49. These are the only sources in the English language with which we are acquainted.
In grammatical and lexical works the Polish language is very rich; but the interest which the English have recently shown for the fate of the Poles seems not to extend to their language. The following are the principal works.
GRAMMARS: in German, Krumholz Polnische Grammatik, Breslau 1797, 6th edit. Auszug aus Kopczynski's Grammatik, von Polsfuss, Breslau 1794, Mrongovius Poln. Sprachlehre, Königsb 1794, and in several altered editions, under different titles; last edition Danzig 1836. Szumski's Poln. Gramm. Posen 1830. Vater's Grammatik der Poln. Sprache, Halle 1807. Bantkie Poln. Grammatik attached to his Dictionary, Breslau 1808-1824. Szrzeniawa Wortforschungslehre der polnischen Sprache, Lemberg and Lemgo 1842-43. Poplinski Polnische Grammatik, Lissa 1836; last edition 1840. Stostakowskiego Polska Gramm. Trzemeszne 1846. Schieweck Grammatik der. Polnischen Sprache, Fraustadt and Neustadt 1847. In French, Kopczynski Essai d'une grammaire Polonaise, Wars. 1807. Trambczynski Grammatique raisonnée de la langue Polonaise, new edit. Warsaw 1793.
DICTIONARIES, in German and French. The most useful are, Mrongovius Handwörterbuch der Poln. Sprachte, latest edit. Danz. 1823. Troc Franz-poln.-deutsches Wörterbuch in several editions from 1742 to 1821. J.V. Bantkie Taschenwörterbuch der Poln. Sprache, (German and French,) Breslau and Wars. in several editions from 1805 to 1819. Slownik Francusko-Polski, Dictionaire Polonais Français, Berlin and Leipzig 1839-45. Dict. Polonais-Francais, 2 vols. 18mo. Paris 1844. J.A.E. Schmidt, Nouveau Dictionaire portatif Francais et Polonais, Zerbst 1817. Polnisch-Deutsches Taschenwörterbuch, von Jordan, Leipzig 1845.—Standard works for the language are the etymological dictionaries: G.S. Bantkie Slownik dokladny iez. pol. i. niem. Breslau 1806, and Linde's Slownik iez. pol. Wars. 1807-14. For other philological works, see Schaflarik's Geschichte der Slav. Spr. p 410.
Herder, in his Volkslieder, communicated a popular ballad from this dialect. See Literatur und Kunst, Vol. VII. p. 126, edit. of 1827-30.
"On a certain day all the inhabitants of Kief were assembled on the banks of the Dnieper, and on a signal from the monarch, all plunged into the river, some to the waist, others to the neck; parents held their children in their arms while the ceremony was performed by the priests in attendance. Thus a nation received baptism, not only without murmuring, but with cheerfulness; for all were convinced that a religion, embraced by the sovereign and boyards, must necessarily be the best in the world" Foreign Quart. Review, Art. on Karamsin's History of Russia, Vol. III. p. 160. Compare Henderson's Travels in Russia, p. 191.
See Cramer's Pommersche Kirchen Historie, L I. c. 29.
Among others the peasants of the duchy of Altenburg, who are highly respectable through a certain degree of cultivation rare among German peasants, and distinguished for their wealth and prosperous condition. Although long since perfectly Germanized, certain Vendish usages have been kept up among them, more especially at weddings and similar festivals, the details of which are very interesting.
Principia linguae Vandalicae seu Wendica, Prague 1679-1682.
Didascalia sive Orthographia Vandalica, Bautzen 1689.
De Originibus linguae Sorabicae M. Abrah. Frencelij, Budiss. et Zwickau 1693-96.
Kurzgefasste Grammatik der Sorben-Wendischen Sprache, Bautzen 1828.
Grammatik der wendisch-sorbischen Sprache in der Ober Lausitz. Im Systeme Dubrovsky's abgefasst, von J.P. Jordan, Prague 1841. Here may be mentioned also, Maly Sserb, i.e. der kleine Serbe, wendische-deutsche Gesprache etc. mit einem wendisch-deutschen und deutsch-wendischen Würterbuch, etc. von J.E. Schmaler, Bautzen 1841.—There exists besides this only one Sorabian Dictionary, and this in Latin, Vocabularium latino-sorbicum, by G.A. Swotlik, Bautzen 1721.
Volkslieder der Wenden in der Ober und Nieder Lausitz, und mit den Sangweisen, deutsher Uebersetzung, etc. herausgegeben von Leopold Haupt und J.E. Schmaler, Grimma 1841, 2 vols. The second volume contains the songs in the dialect of Lower Lusatia.
Philological works on this dialect are the following: Hauptmann's Wendische Sprachlehre, Lübben 1761. Kurze Anleitung zur Wend. Sprache, 1746. Megiseri Thesaurus Polyglottus, Frankf. 1603; including the Lower Lusatian. Several vocabularies of this dialect are extant in manuscript; see Schaffarik's Geschichte, p. 486.
Volks und Meisterlieder, Frankf. a.M. 1817.
De Bello Gothico, lib. iii. c. 14.
Vol. I. p. 69.
Geschichte der Slavischen Sprache und Literatur, p. 52.
This song is among the few, which Russian critics think as ancient as the sixteenth century. See Karamzin's History of Russia, Vol. X, p. 264.
Bowring'a translation.
The piece to which we allude was in the possession of the Cardinal Albani, at Rome; but has since been carried to England. A fine copy in plaster is in the Museum at Paris; from which numerous drawings have been taken, now scattered all over Europe.
Kunst und Alterthum, Vol. II. p. 49.
9 Narodne Srpske Pjesme skup. i izd. Vuk etc. Leipz. 1824. Vol. I. p. 55. Volkslieder der Serben, von Talvj, Halle 1825. Vol. I. p. 46.
Pronounced Yelitza.
The whole of this tale is translated in Bowring's little volume of "Servian Popular Poetry."
The Greek ballad is entitled "The Journey by Night," and begins thus:
The Greek ballad is entitled "The Journey by Night," and
begins thus:
Manna, me tous ennea sou uious, kai me tên mia sou korê.
'O mother, thou, with thy nine sons, and with thine only
daughter.'
A Russian ballad also begins very similarly:
"At Kief, in that famous town,
Resided a rich
widow;
Nine sons the widow of Kief had,
The tenth was a daughter
dear."
The story however is essentially different.
See above p. 306, n. 2.
This remarkable fact is mentioned by all Russian historians, on the good authority of the ancient annalist Nestor.
"The Tshuvashes have a Penate, which they call Erich. This Erich is nothing but a bundle of broom, cytisus, tied together in the middle with the inner bark of the linden. It consists of fifteen branches of equal size, about four feet long; above is a piece of tin attached to it. Each house has such an Erich, which usually stands in a corner of the entry. Nobody ventures to touch it. When it becomes dry, a new Erich is tied together, and the old one placed in running water with great reverence." See Stimmen des Russ. Volks, von P.v. Goetze, Stuttg. 1828, page 17.—The Tshuvashes, however, are not a Slavic, but a Finnish race, living under the Russian dominion.
Dobrovsky's Slavin, 1834, p. 113.
Werke, Ausgabe letzter Hand, Vol. XLVI. p. 332.
In those four of our Russian specimens marked P, the translation is by J.G. Percival.
Page 323.
See above, p. 64.
We say, 'to judge from the language.' But their coincidence with Bohemian ballads of the thirteenth century, and various other indications (e.g. their frequent mention of the Danube), seem to vindicate, for their groundwork at least, a very high antiquity.
Stimmen des Russischen Volkes, von P.v. Goetze, Stuttg. 1848.
Slavery in Russia is comparatively of modern date.
Pjesni Russkawo Naroda, St. Petersb. 1837-39, Vol. IV. p. 29.—We would remark here, that all our specimens are translated, not by means of the German, but from the original languages, and that all the originals are (or have been) in our possession. It would have been easy to embellish these simple songs by little additions or omissions, the rhymeless ones by rhyme, and the rhymed ones by more regularity; but we could not possibly have done it without impairing the fidelity of such a version.
Both these are bad omens for a Russian girl.
Names of the street and gate in Moscow, through which formerly criminals were led to execution.
Buinaya golowushka, that is, the fierce, rebellious, impetuous head, and mogutshiya pletsha, or strong shoulders, are standing expressions in Russia, in reference to a young hero; the former, especially, when there is allusion to some traitorous action.
Sacharof's Collection, Vol. IV. p. 218; see p. 346.
That is, the Russian governments Kief, Pultava, Tshernigof, Kharkof, and Yekatrinoslav. The latter, the cradle of the present population of Malo-Russia, belongs, according to the present geographical division of the Russian empire, to Southern Russia.
The Polish poet Bogdjanski is said to have collected in the government of Pultava alone towards 8000! A great many of these consist, of course, only in variations of the same theme, owing to the failing memory of the singer. Maximovitch's Collection contains several thousand pieces.
Volkslieder der Polen gesammelt und übersezt, von W.P. Leipzig 1833. It ought to have been called Songs of the Ruthenian people in Poland.
The origin of this polite appellation is its rise in the Ivanovskoi Lake.
Towards the close of the eighteenth century, Catharine II induced great numbers of the Zaporoguean Kozaks to move to the northern shore of the Kuban, east of the Black Sea or Tshernayamora, in order to protect the border against the Circassians. They are hence called Tshernomorskii, or Black Sea Kozaks.
These affectionate feelings were gradually extended towards all the rivers of their ancient establishments. Their ballads express a tender attachment to Mother Wolga, Mother Kamyshenka, Mother Tsarytzina, etc.
See above, p. 297.
Yessaul is the name of that officer among the Kozaks, who stands immediately under the Hetman. The ballad refers to an incident which happened before 1648. It is from Sreznevski's Starina Zaporoshnaya, i.e. History of the Zaporoguean Kozaks, Kharkof 1837.
Probably John Wihowski, Hetman after Chmielnicki. After the death of this latter, he fell off from Russia, and led the Kozaks back to Poland. It seems it was he who occasioned Pushkar's death.
Manuscript.
From Czelakowski's Collection; see above, p. 216, n. 58.
From Sacharof's Collection, St. Petersb. 1839. Vol. IV. p. 497.
The reader will find an elaborate essay on the popular poetry of the Ukraine in the Foreign Quarterly Review, Vol. XXVI. No. 51. It was evidently written by one of the Polish exiles in England. In it, however, a singular mistake is made as to the derivation of the appellation of the Zaporoguean Kozaks. Porog does not mean "Island" in any Slavic language.
See a description of this national dance in Wilkinson, Dalmatia and Montenegro, I, p. 399.
A Servian woman never would sit down in the presence of her husband. At table she stands behind him, and waits on him and his guests. Even the wife of prince Milosh did so; only with the restriction that she confined her services to her husband. The Morlachians—who seem indeed to be the rudest part of the Servian population—do not mention their wives to a stranger without adding: "With your permission."
The reader will find a description of a Morlachian wedding in Wilkinson, Vol. II. p. 164 sq. For a fuller account, see Volkslieder der Serben, von Talvj, Vol. II. Introduction.
Servian popular poetry has properly no rhymes; but wherever a rhyme occasionally occurs, it appears to be welcome; so in this little piece, which is faithfully conformed to the original. All our specimens of the Servian "female" songs are taken from the first volume of Vuk's Collection. See above, p. 115.
For more specimens see Bowring's Servian Popular Poetry, Lond. 1827. These little songs are there made much more attractive by giving them an English dress with rhymes, and accommodating them to the English way of feeling and expressing feelings; a proceeding which we have purposely avoided, because our only object is a faithful translation. Dr. Bowring has moreover translated mainly from our German translation.
A mountainous region in the vicinity of Montenegro.
See the similar beginning of "Hassan Aga," p. 324 above.
See an account of this remarkable custom, from the Abbate Fortia, in Wilkinson, II. p. 178 sq.
This beautiful poem see in Vuk, III. p. 299 sq. Transl. by Talvi, II. p. 245.
As the best illustration of this remark we recommend, among other examples, the poem on the death of Meho Orugditch, Vuk, III. p. 333 sq, Transl. by Talvi, II. p. 279 sq.
From Czelakowsky's Collection; see above, p. 216, n. 58.
From Slowanske narodnj pjsne sebran. F.L. Czelakowskym, Prague 1822-27. The collection of Carniolan ballads by Achazel and Korytko, which appeared in 1839, we have not yet seen.
From Rukopis Kralodworsky, etc. wydan od W. Hanky, Prague 1835, p. 106.
Ibid. pp. 107 sq. 197 sq. 131 sq.
Taken down by Vuk from the lips of a peasant girl.
In the original, she was buried last week. The lover could hardly expect to find a new grave, if she had been buried long ago.
All our Bohemian and Slovakian specimens are taken from Czelakowsky's Collection, as we happened not to be in possession of Kollar's and Erben's later work of that kind. For the full title see p. 385, note.
See above p. 297.
Pjesni ludu Bialo Chrobatow, Mazurow i Russinow z nad Bugu zebr. przez K.W. Wojcickiego, i.e. Songs of the White Chrobatians, Masovians, and Russinians on the Bug, collected by K.W. Woicicki, Warsaw 1836. Vol. I. p. 85. See above, p. 297.
We have also two most exquisite Lithuanian ballads which treat of the same subject; one of them being the lament of a fatherless boy.
Pjesni ludu Polskiego w Galicyi zebr. Zegoia Pauli, Lemberg 1838, p. 57. See above, p. 297.
Pjesnicki hornich i delnich Luziskich Serbow, i, e, Songs of the Servians of Upper and Lower Lusatia, published by L. Haupt and J.E. Schmaler, Grimma 1844. Comp. p. 304, above.
A similar naïvete we find in a little Servian elegy. A poor girl sings: "Our Lord has of every thing his fill; but of poor people he seems to have greater plenty than of any thing else!"
There is only one letter in the Slavish Alphabet for V and W. In the personal names of those nations, which use the Cyrillic alphabet, we have written it V, according to the English pronunciation; in those belonging to nations which have adopted the Latin alphabet, we of course did not feel justified in making any alteration. The Slavic W is always pronounced like the English V.