A book compiled many years later – treatises and sketches about Norwid from several dozen years ago

The text is a review of the book entitled Poeta i myśliciel. Rozprawy i szkice o Norwidzie (A Poet and a Thinker. Studies and Sketches on Norwid) published in 2013. The book was prepared in the Center for Studies of Cyprian Norwid’s Work of the Catholic University of Lublin as the 17th item in the series “Studia i monografie” (“Studies and monographs”); it contains 13 texts written by Tadeusz Makowiecki who lived in the years 1900-1952, concerning the issues connected with the person of Norwid, with his work and its reception. The studies and sketches contained in the book were published in the years 1926-1952, but until now they were scattered in various publications. The material was collected and edited by Edyta Chlebowska and Włodzimierz Toruń. Among Makowiecki’s works published in the book texts are found with a critical character: a review of Zofia Szmydtowa’s publication Norwid wobec tradycji literackiej; an opinion about reception of the poet’s works – Z batalii o Norwida; short sketches touching the poet’s biography: T.T. Jeż a Norwid, in which the author investigated may be the first case of the poet’s life influencing literature; and Z lat szkolnych Cypriana Norwida; Makowiecki’s doctoral thesis Młodzieńcze poglądy Norwida na sztukę; articles bringing up the questions connected with the poet’s social-political views: Norwid wobec powstania styczniowego, Norwid a rok 1848; a synthetic disquisition Norwid myśliciel; the text Stygmat ruin w twórczości Norwida, referring mainly to some aspects connected with the presence of ancient motifs in the poet’s works; and finally studies containing interpretations of particular poems: “Promethidion Norwida a “Dworzanin” Górnickiego, Promethidion, Za kulisami “Tyrteja” (together with Irena Sławińska) and Fortepian Szopena. Makowiecki’s “Norwidian” works were read and appreciated even earlier, among others by Konrad Górski and Marek Buś. Despite the flow of time a considerable number of the Norwidist’s observation have not become out of date