<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-16 little endian"> <title> Jan Kochanowski: &nbsp; Na zdrowie > To Health > Zur Gesundheit; Na Lip > The Linden Tree; Walther von der Vogelweide: Under der linden; Wit Stwoss, Tilman Riemenschneider (carvings) &nbsp; (Translations / Übersetzungen) &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; </title> <META name="description" content="Enjoy Jan Kochanowski's poems Na zdrowie and Na lip, plus discussion of linden tree, lindenwood carvings, Hesperides apples, Walther von der Vogelweide, Tilman Riemenschneider, Veit Stoss in English"> <META name="keywords" content=" Jan Kochanowski : Na zdrowie, Na lip ( Slachetne zdrowie ) ( Englische Uebersetzung, German translation ) "> </head> <!-- ***** START SYMBOLS, LETTERS ***** Ä Ö Ü ä ö ü ß ?  - ? " ¬ © « » ß R S T O ß " - ¦  À Á Â Æ Ç È É Ê Ì Í Î Ò Ó Ô Õ Ù Ú Û Ø à á â ã æ ç è é ê ì í î ñ ò ó ô ø ù ú û Symbols, Polish: A B C D y z     { | i j   Z [ ó ******* END SYMBOLS, LETTERS ****** --> <body background="PaperWarm64.jpg" text=#000000 link=#66ccff vlink=#993300 alink=#993300> <tt> <font color=#999999> <p> <font color="gold">Translations/&Uuml;bersetzungen by/von Walter A. Aue with guest translator/better half Zofia K. Aue; <br> and with much appreciated assistance from Maria DButek and various literature sources. </font> </font> </tt> <p><br> <center> <table border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0> <tr> <!-- **** START UPPER TILES **** --> <td height=64 background="Kochanowski-64.jpg" border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 colspan=5> </td> <!-- ***** END UPPER TILES ***** --> </tr> <!-- ***** START MAIN PART ***** --> <tr> <!-- ** START VERTICAL BORDER ** --> <td width=64 background="Kochanowski-64.jpg"> </td> <!-- *** END VERTICAL BORDER *** --> <!-- @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ --> <!-- ***** START LEFT TEXT ***** --> <td background="Kochanowski-Paper64.jpg" width=384 align=center valign=top> <p> <br> <h3><b> Jan Kochanowski:<br> </h3> <h2> Na zdrowie </h2> <p> Szlachetne zdrowie, <br> Nikt si nie dowie, <br> Jako smakujesz, <br> A| si zepsujesz. <p> Tam czBowiek prawie <br> Widzi na jawie <br> I sam to powie, <br> {e nic nad zdrowie <p> Ani lepszego, <br> Ani dro|szego; <br> Bo dobre mienie, <br> PerBy, kamienie, <p> Tak|e wiek mBody <br> I dar urody, <br> Miejsca wysokie, <br> WBadze szerokie <p> Dobre s, ale - <br> Gdy zdrowie w cale. <br> Gdzie nie masz siBy, <br> I swiat niemiBy. <p> Klejnocie drogi, <br> Mój dom ubogi <br> Oddany tobie <br> Ulubuj sobie! </b> <br> <!-- ******** grey comments start ***** --> <p> <br> <blockquote> <hr color="red"> <h5><font color=#666666> <p><br> <img src="Kochanowski-Portrait1-Trans280.jpg"> <p> Jan Kochanowski <p><br> Dobrze, dobrze, Polski czytelniku, rozumiem, |e raczej spodziewasz sie |e powinno to wyglada bardziej jak <a href="http://www.staropolska.pl/renesans/jan_kochanowski/fraszki/fraszki_48.html">staropolski jzyk</a>, zdecydowanie masz racj. <p> Przyznaj si od razu, |e zmieniBem par sBow, naprzykBad klinot to klejnot, ale to nie zmieniBo tre[ci fraszki a w ten sposob mam nadziej |e ten majestetyczny glos z 16 wieku, tak pikny i prawdziwy bdzie jeszcze bardziej przystpny. Mea culpa. <p> Czujesz si rozczarowany? Niepotrzebnie, ka|de rozczarowanie ewentualnie mo|e zmieni si w nowe prze|ycie. <p> Wic, sidz wygodnie, wypij kieliszek |óbrowki, zmieD klejnot to klinot, poBcz zwrotki, sprawdz wszystkie kreski nad literami, jeszcze raz sprawdz wszystko dokBadnie i przeczytaj ten wiersz gBo[no jesze raz! - i oceD, co z tego wyszlo. <p> I w ten sposób przekonasz si |e ten wiersz nagle staB si jeszcze pikniejszy. <p> PS-1: I je|eli znasz angielsku lub niemiecki, spróbuj sam przetlumaczy szczególnie je|eli uwa|asz, |e skrzydziBem wiersz Kochanowskiego moim tBumaczeniem, duch tej fraszki, pikno wyra|enia, jak prawdziwa jest dzisiaj tak jak byBa prawdziwa w szesnastym wieku, jej humor... I je|eli chcesz, prosz <a href="mailto:waue@dal.ca?subject=Na zdrowie"> <font color=#66ccff>podziel si ze mn </font> </a> twoim do[wiadczeniem . Na zdrowie. <p> PS-2: Dziki! I poniewasz jeste[ literackim przyjacielem: tutaj <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxcOR4RF_SY">video</a>. <p><br> </font></h5> </blockquote> <!-- ********** grey comments end ****** --> <p><br> </td> <!-- ******** END LEFT TEXT ***** --> <!-- ** START MIDDLE COLUMN *** --> <td width=64 background="Kochanowski-64.jpg"> </td> <!-- *** END MIDDLE COLUMN **** --> <!-- @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ --> <!-- ***** START RIGHT TEXT ***** --> <td background="Kochanowski-Paper64.jpg" width=384 align=center valign=top> <p> <br> <h3><b> Jan Kochanowski:<br> </h3> <h2> To Health </h2> <p> Health, You are grand - <br> though none understand <br> how splendid you taste<br> until you are waste: <p> Then people do grit <br> their teeth and admit <br> (when well-being stops) <br> that <i>Health</i> is the tops! <p> Nothing stands nearer, <br> nothing is dearer: <br> All of man's measures, <br> pearls and treasures, <p> also young faces, <br> beauty and graces, <br> highest positions, <br> powerful missions, <p> are surely alluring - <br> but health is assuring: <br> Once it succumbs, <br> the world is the dumps! <p> Health, precious jewel, <br> my house and my gruel <br> are Yours to enfold, <br> to love and to hold! <br> </b> <!-- ******** grey comments start ***** --> <p> <br> <blockquote> <hr color="red"> <h5><font color=#666666> <p><br> <img src="Kochanowski-Stamp-Trans.jpg"> <p> For comparison, <br> <a href="http://www.ap.krakow.pl/nkja/literature/polpoet/kochtrif.htm"> <font color=#66ccff> check the semantically far more <br>accurate translation of Michal J. Mikos</font></a>. <p><br> <hr color="red"> <p><br> Why this poem fails to deal with autumn, as my website promises? Well, have you ever heard about the 'Autumn of Life'? (The Americans - health-insured or otherwise - most euphemistically call that time 'The Golden Years'.) <p> Although, of course, health can leave us in spring or summer, too (not to mention winter, where such becomes obligatory). As it left Urszulka, the beloved daughter of Jan Kochanowski, in her childhood. The laments of the grieving father, his treny (threny, threnodies, laments, elegies) became his most admired work. The treni were, for instance, translated in our time by Stanislaw Baranczak and (Nobel Prize winner) Seamus Heaney. <p> But let's talk about the poem at hand. Sure, my translation leaves much to be desired. Not only because that's how translation functions (Robert Frost once said that "poetry is that which gets lost in translation", and the Italians comment "translator: traitor"). <p> And not only because I don't speak Polish. And not only because I had to indulge in considerable artistic licence to translate Kochanowski's condensed, precise and perfectly rhymed lines of two(!) stressed syllables only. So if you like a more literal translation, try the one by <a href="http://www.ap.krakow.pl/nkja/literature/polpoet/kochtrif.htm"> Michal J. Mikos</a>. Quite a difference to this one, isn't it? <p> And you blame it on me? Now, just a minute! Just watch me don my most innocent face and expound with my most resonant voice: "But it's for your OWN GOOD! After all, we do it all FOR YOU! Our MISSION STATEMENT proves it!" <p> Impudence, you say? Well, I figured if the politicians and the administrators and the managers get away with that kind of nonsense, why shouldn't I? <p> The only problem is that all, and I mean ALL my Polish acquaintancies - they number quite a few, since my wife is Polish - know that poem by heart and love to recite it in unison and with warningly wagging first fingers - especially now that we are, sorry, that <font color="red">I am</font> getting older? But still and for the last of my excuses: Have a look at the poem and try to guess from which century it hails. <p> Got it? Exactly - and that's surprising. Reading it out of context would have excused you for placing it in a later century. <p> By the way, the 16th century was also the time when Martin Luther translated the Latin Bible into "German", thereby providing a seed for crystallizing the written language that eventually all "German-speaking" people would understand - and whichLuther thus helped create. But that's highschool knowledge - and the older I get the more I like to remember (and learn to distrust) info from earlier days. <p> It is likewise said - and I am no expert in that field, either - that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Kochanowski">Jan Kochanowski</a>, 1530-1584, similarly switched not only from the then dominating Latin - in which he was fluent at 14 years - to his mother tongue for his polished poems, but that in this process he also sculpted the emerging vernacular. "He gave the Polish their language", as I've heard it expressed. And, as Ludwig Wittgenstein once remarked, the confines of one's language are the confines of one's world. What an expanded world Kochanowski opened to his people! <p> PS: You have a problem with Polish? No Problem! Just listen to the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s-vMd_pBks">Polish alphabet!</a> And the diacritics come with it for free! </font></h5> </blockquote> <!-- ********** grey comments end ****** --> <p><br> </td> <!-- ******** END RIGHT TEXT ***** --> <!-- *** START VERTICAL BORDER *** --> <td width=64 background="Kochanowski-64.jpg"> <font color=#660099> ... </font> </td> <!-- **** END VERTICAL BORDER **** --> </tr> <!-- ******* END MAIN PART ******* --> <tr> <!-- **** START UPPER TILES **** --> <td height=64 background="Kochanowski-64.jpg" border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 colspan=5> </td> <!-- ***** END UPPER TILES ***** --> </tr> <!-- ***** START MAIN PART ***** --> <tr> <!-- ** START VERTICAL BORDER ** --> <td width=64 background="Kochanowski-64.jpg"> </td> <!-- *** END VERTICAL BORDER *** --> <!-- @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ --> <!-- ***** START LEFT TEXT ***** --> <td background="Kochanowski-Paper64.jpg" width=384 align=center valign=top> <p> <br> <h3><b> Jan Kochanowski:<br> </h3> <h2> Na zdrowie </h2> <p> Szlachetne zdrowie, <br> Nikt si nie dowie, <br> Jako smakujesz, <br> A| si zepsujesz. <p> Tam czBowiek prawie <br> Widzi na jawie <br> I sam to powie, <br> {e nic nad zdrowie <p> Ani lepszego, <br> Ani dro|szego; <br> Bo dobre mienie, <br> PerBy, kamienie, <p> Tak|e wiek mBody <br> I dar urody, <br> Miejsca wysokie, <br> WBadze szerokie <p> Dobre s, ale - <br> Gdy zdrowie w cale. <br> Gdzie nie masz siBy, <br> I swiat niemiBy. <p> Klejnocie drogi, <br> Mój dom ubogi <br> Oddany tobie <br> Ulubuj sobie! </b> <br> <!-- ******** grey comments start ***** --> <p> <br> <blockquote> <hr color="red"> <h5><font color=#666666> <p><br> <img src="Kochanowski-Treny.jpg"> <p> Jan Matejko: Treny <p><br> <img src="Kochanowski-Portrait2-Trans280.jpg"> <p> Jan Kochanowski <br> (Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland) <p><br> <img src="Kochanowski-Czarnolas-Museum-Trans280.jpg"> <p> <a href="http://www.topofpoland.com/index.php?id=2&top=34&t=1">Jan Kochanowski Museum</a> <br> (Czarnolas, Poland) <p><br> [Czarnolas ("Blackwood") was Jan Kochanowski's beloved home, where he wrote some of the most famous of his poems. There stood (once) his famous linden tree (see poem below); today there stands a museum in his honor. If you try to find it on a map of Eastern Poland, the closest small town is ZwoleD, the closest big one is Radom.] <p><br> <img src="Kochanowski-Trans292-S07748.jpg"> <p> "The Humanist of Czarnolas" <br> Contamporary tapestry by Danuta Paprowicz in the Czarnolas Museum. Kochanowsky is surrounded by (I think) the famous old linden tree of Czarnolas (which fell around 1970 in a severe storm). <p><br> <img src="Kochanowski-Trans292-S07743.jpg"> <p> Book cover of 1584, of Kochanowski's famous "Fraszki" <p><br> <img src="Kochanowski-Trans292-S07746.jpg"> <p> Kochanowski's signature <p><br> <img src="Kochanowski-Trans292-S07752.jpg"> <p> Kochanowski's sarcophagus, <br> crypta of the church in ZwoleD <p><br> </font></h5> </blockquote> <!-- ********** grey comments end ****** --> </td> <!-- ******** END LEFT TEXT ***** --> <!-- ** START MIDDLE COLUMN *** --> <td width=64 background="Kochanowski-64.jpg"> </td> <!-- *** END MIDDLE COLUMN **** --> <!-- @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ --> <!-- ***** START RIGHT TEXT ***** --> <td background="Kochanowski-Paper64.jpg" width=384 align=center valign=top> <p> <br> <h3><b> Jan Kochanowski:<br> </h3> <h2> Zur Gesundheit </h2> <p> Gesundheit, Verehrte! <br> Niemand erklärte <br> dem, der genießt, <br> daß Du entfliehst! <p> Doch dann sieht er ein <br> und sagt: Ganz allein <br> Gesundheit ist wert, <br> daß man sie verehrt. <p> Nichts kann vergleichen - <br> selbst bei den Reichen, <br> denen nicht fehlen <br> Perlen, Juwelen, <p> Jugend fürwahr, <br> Schönheit sogar, <br> und höheren Standes <br> Macht des Gewandes <p> sind alle gut - allein <br> Gesundheit muß sein: <br> Wem die Kräfte vergehn, <br> ist die Welt nimmer schön. <p> Gesundheit, Du Schatz, <br> mein Haus und mein Platz <br> gehören auch Dir: <br> Oh, bleibe bei mir! <br> </b> <!-- ******** grey comments start ***** --> <p> <br> <blockquote> <hr color="red"> <h5><font color=#666666> <p><br> Ob dieses Gedicht etwas mit dem Herbst zu tun hat? Ja, schon: mit dem Herbst des Lebens. Obwohl man auch im Frühling oder Sommer von der Gesundheit verlassen werden kann (vom Winter ganz zu schweigen). <p> Wie, zum Beispiel, Jan Kochanowskis junge Tochter Ursula. Sie starb im Kindesalter. Die herzzerreißende Klage des Vaters, seine viel-gelesenen Trauerlieder (treny, Threnodien, Elegien), sind sein berühmtestes Werk. <p> Aber das ist nicht der Grund, warum Kochanowskis Gedicht über die Gesundheit hier aufscheint. <p> Der Grund war vielmehr mein Erstaunen darüber, dasz alle(!) meine polnischen Bekannten - und deren habe ich etliche, da meine Frau aus Polen stammt - diese Verse <u>auswendig</u> können. Und diese auch oft - jetzt, da wir alle - Pardon, da ICH - älter werde - mit erhobenem Zeigefinger zitieren. <p> Natürlich, das Original ist so dicht und präzise, so inhaltsreich, treffend und volkstümlich geschrieben (von den nur zwei(!) Betonungen pro Zeile und den einfachen aber genau passenden Reime einmal ganz zu schweigen), daß eine Übersetzung dem Original nie auch nur nahekommen kann. Obwohl ich mir des Langen und des Breiten Übersetzerfreiheiten herausnahm. Naja: herausnehmen mußte. <p> Trotzdem: Wer nicht Polnisch versteht (und da zähle ich mich dazu) sollte zumindestens eine Ahnung haben, was die Polen da so oft mit wissenden Gesichtern und offensichtlichem Vergnügen am kommunalen Gleichklang von sich geben. <p> Und noch etwas. <a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Kochanowski">Jan Kochanowski</a> lebte von 1530 bis 1584. Das war so um die Zeit von Martin Luthers deutscher Bibel. Und wie Luther - ließ ich mir sagen - hat Kochanowski nicht nur das damals allein übliche Latein durch seine Muttersprache ersetzt, sondern diese Volkssprache auch mitgeformt und ausgeweitet. Und wie Ludwig Wittgenstein einmal bemerkte, sind die Grenzen unserer Sprache nun einmal die Grenzen unserer Welt. Welch' Verdienst um sein Volk, ihm eine so erweiterte Welt zu hinterlassen! <p> Von dem Gedicht selbst will ich gar nicht reden. Wenn man sich andere Verse aus dem 16. Jahrhundert solcher Provenienz ansieht, dann könnte man leicht annehmen, daß dieses Gedicht aus späteren Jahrhunderten stamme. Aber probieren Sie's doch einmal selber! Zur Gesundheit! Na zdrowie! <p> PS: Sie haben Probleme mit Polnisch? Kein Problem! Hören Sie sich nur das <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s-vMd_pBks">polnische Alphabet</a> an! Die diakritischen Zeichen bekommen Sie umsonst mitgeliefert! <p><br> </font></h5> </blockquote> <!-- ********** grey comments end ****** --> </td> <!-- ******** END RIGHT TEXT ***** --> <!-- *** START VERTICAL BORDER *** --> <td width=64 background="Kochanowski-64.jpg"> <font color=#660099> ... </font> </td> <!-- **** END VERTICAL BORDER **** --> </tr> <!-- ******* END MAIN PART ******* --> <tr> <!-- ***** START LOWER TILE ****** --> <td background="Kochanowski-64.jpg" height=64 colspan=5> <a name="Linde">.</a> </td> <!-- ****** END LOWER TILE ******* --> </tr> <!-- ***** START MAIN PART ***** --> <tr> <!-- ** START VERTICAL BORDER ** --> <td width=64 background="Kochanowski-64.jpg"> </td> <!-- *** END VERTICAL BORDER *** --> <!-- @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ --> <!-- ***** START LEFT TEXT ***** --> <td background="Kochanowski-Paper64.jpg" width=384 align=center valign=top> <p><br> <!-- Symbols, Polish: A B C D y z     { | i j   Z [ ó --> <h4> <font color="red"> Dedykujemy t prac naszej ukochanej, <br> Siostrze <a href="http://www.szkolapl.org/Home/babcia-hania-opowiada">Hani Zagrobie</a> z Nowego Yorku <br> (Wielkiego JabBka) na jej urodziny. </font> </h4> <h3><b> Jan Kochanowski:<br> </h3> <h2> Na lip </h2> <p> Go[ciu, sidz pod mym li[ciem, a odpoczni sobie! <br> Nie dójdzie ci tu sBoDce, przyrzekam ja tobie, <br> Cho si nawysszej wzbije, a proste promienie <br> Zcign pod swoje drzewa rozstrzelane cienie. <p> Tu zaw|dy chBodne wiatry z pola zawiewaj, <br> Tu sBowicy, tu szpacy wdzicznie narzekaj. <br> Z mego wonnego kwiatu pracowite pszczoBy <br> Bior miód, który potym szlachci paDskie stoBy. <p> A ja swym cichym szeptem sprawi umiem snadnie, <br> {e czBowiekowi Bacno sBodki sen przypadnie. <br> JabBek<font color="red">*</font>&nbsp; wprawdzie nie rodz, lecz mi pan tak kBadzie <br> Jako szczep napBodniejszy w hesperyskim sadzie. </b> <br> <!-- ******** grey comments start ***** --> <p> <br> <blockquote> <hr color="red"> <h5><font color=#666666> <!-- Symbols, Polish: A B C D y z     { | i j   Z [ ó --> Wiersz z piknej <a href="http://www.staropolska.pl/">website</a> starych polskich wierszy. <p> <hr color="red"> <p> <font color="red">* </font>&nbsp; W Hesperyjskim Ogrodzie (zwanym tak|e "Wyspami BBogosBawionych" lub "Ogrodem Hery," albo " Zachodnimi Wyspami") rosBy Drzwa {ycia, które rodziBy zBote jabBka dajce nie[mirtelno[ . <p> Czy Kochanowski sugeruje w tym wierszu, "Na Lip" |e ludzka [miertelno[ - drzemic i [nic pod lip, jedzc jabBka z Drzewa Wiedzy (poznania dobra i zBa ) jest lepsze ni| jedzc owoce z Drzewa {ycia i by nie[miertelnymi jak Bogowie w Hesperyjskim Ogrodzie. <p> Nie mam pojcia ale ten wiersz Kochanowskiego daje du|o do my[lenia........ <p><br> <hr color="red"> <p><br> Drogi Czytelniku, sam zdecyduj czy ten wiersz "Na Lip" Jana Kochanowskiego jest transendentalny i panteistyczny? My w dalszym ciagu dyskutujemy na ten temat co Kochanowski chcial nam przekaza. <p> Jedna rzecz jest pewna, sBowa Jana Kochanowskiego trafiaj do serca, nasi polscy przyjaciele bez wyjtku recytuj ten wiersz z pamici, jak nie caBy to choby jedn zwrotk. <p> ZaBczone poni|ej zdjcia ilustruj jeszcze inny przykBad jak wielkim darem dla ludzko[ci jest drzewo lipowe z którego powstaj wspaniaBe rzezby. <p> GBówny oBtarz Wita Stwosza (1445-1531) w Bazylice Krakowskiej jest najlepszym przykBadem. W Zredniowieczu rzezby w drzewie osignBy bardzo wysoki poziom artystyczny. W Krakowskiej Bazylice rzezba W. Stwosza jest malowana, jaka byBa w tym czasie tradycja. <p> Innym przykBadem s rzezby Tilmana Riemenschneidera (1460-1531), który swe pikne rzezbione postacie zostawiB niemalowane, gdzie mo|na podziwia nie tylko rzezb ale tak|e charakter samego drzewa lipowego. <p> Drzewo lipowe daje ludziom uzdrawiajce kwiaty i miód, spokoj duszy i komfort je|eli "sid pod moim li[ciem i spoczn sobie." Drzewo lipowe to wspaniaBy materiaB do rzezb, które czsto przetrwaj setki lat w ko[cioBach i przydro|nych kapliczkach, dajc spokój sercu i duszy. <p><br> <img src="Kochanowski-Linde-Stoss-Crakov-Trans292.jpg"> Wit Stwosz: GBówny oBtarz, <br> Ko[cióB Mariacki, Kraków, Polska <br> (drzewo lipowe, malowane) <p><br> <img src="Kochanowski-Linde-Stoss-Nativity-Trans292.jpg"> <p>Wit Stwosz: " Szopka" Ko[cióB Mariacki, Kraków <br> (Fragment,drzewo lipowe, malowane.) <p><br> <img src="Kochanowski-Linde-Stoss-HlSpirit-Trans292.jpg"> <p>Wit Stwosz: ZesBanie Ducha Zwitego , Ko[cióB Mariacki, Kraków <br> (Drzewo lipowe, malowane) <p><br> <img src="Kochanowski-Linde-Stoss-Marientod-Trans292.jpg"> <p>Wit Stwosz: Zmir Matki Boskiej<br> (Fragment, drzewo lipowe, Noremberg, obecnie w Muzeum Narodowym w Monachium) <p><br> <img src="Kochanowski-Linde-Riemen-Trans292.jpg"> <p>Tilman Riemenschneider: Ko[cióB Pana Boga, Kreglingen, Niemcy <br> (Drzewo lipowe) <p><br> <img src="Kochanowski-Linde-Riemen-HlBlood-Trans292.jpg"> <p>Tilman Riemenschneider: Ostatnia Wieczerza<br> (Drzewo lipowe, OBtarz Zwitej Krwi, Rotenburg nad Tauberem, Niemcy) <p><br> <img src="Kochanowski-Linde-Riemen-HlBloodDetail-Trans292.jpg"> <p>Tilman Riemenschneider: Ostatnia Wieczerza<br> [Fragment z góry (Jezus i Judasz)] <p><br> <img src="Kochanwoski-Linde-Riemenschneider-Trans292.jpg"> <p>Tilman Riemenschneider: Portret rzezbiony przez Riemenshnidera<br> (Drzewo lipowe, OBtarz w Kreglingen, Niemcy) <P> Musz tutaj doda, |e Tilman Riemenschneider oprócz rzezby zajmowaB sie tak|e polityk, byB czBonkiem Rady Miasta w Wurcburgu w Niemczech, gdzie prowadziB wielk pracowni rzezbiarsk. Tilman Riemenschneider wraz z caB Rad Miasta wBczyB si do rewolucji chBopskiej byB zBapany w 1525 roku uwiziony i torturowany. Jak zródBa podaj obie jego rce byBy poBamane podczas tortur. Ju| od tej pory nie mógB rzezbi w drzewie lipowym co dla artysty to tortura nie tylko dla ciaBa ale tak|e dla duszy. <!-- Symbols, Polish:  --> </font></h5> </blockquote> <!-- ********** grey comments end ****** --> <p><br> </td> <!-- ******** END LEFT TEXT ***** --> <!-- ** START MIDDLE COLUMN *** --> <td width=64 background="Kochanowski-64.jpg"> </td> <!-- *** END MIDDLE COLUMN **** --> <!-- @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ --> <!-- ***** START RIGHT TEXT ***** --> <td background="Kochanowski-Paper64.jpg" width=384 align=center valign=top> <p><br> <h4> <font color="red"> Dedicated to our Darling Sister <br> <a href="http://www.szkolapl.org/Home/babcia-hania-opowiada">Hanna Zagroba</a> of the Big Apple <br> on occasion of her birthday </font> </h4> <h3><b> Jan Kochanowski:<br> </h3> <h2> The Linden Tree </h2> <p> Traveller, come! Enter under my leaves for a rest <br> where the Sun will not reach you. Come and I promise the best: <br> Even with sun at the highest, shooting down on the meadows <br> brilliant rays, diffuse them I shall to the softest of shadows. <p> Here, right under my crown, wafts gently and cooling a breeze; <br> here the starlings and larks all abound and argue with ease; <br> here the hard-working bees extract from my sweet-smelling flower <br> honey that graces the finest of tables at family hour. <p> And, without effort, with whispers that come from my deep<br> I shall be singing all visitors sweetly to sleep. <br> Though in Hesperides Garden none of the apples<font color="red">*</font> I bear, <br> as the most giving of trees my Lord has planted me there. <br> </b> <!-- ******** grey comments start ***** --> <p> <br> <blockquote> <hr color="red"> <h5><font color=#666666> <p> <font color="red">* </font>&nbsp; In the Hesperides Garden (the "Isles of the Blessed", "Hera's Garden", the "Western Isles") grew the golden apples of immortality. Does Kochanowski suggest that human mortality - sleeping and dreaming under the linden tree or eating apples from the "Tree of Knowledge" instead of from the "Tree of Life" in the Garden of Eden - may be preferable to the immortality (i.e., to eating the Golden Apples) of the Greek Gods? I have no idea, but it IS a re-assuring thought... <p> Kochanowski had a good classical education: he knew all about Greek myths. And most certainly he knew about Genesis 2:16-17: <p> <i>"And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." </i> <p> Why I cite that? Oh, just as a thought that came to me under the linden tree... <p><br> <hr color="red"> <p><br> Linden (<i>Tilia</i> varieties, also called lime tree or basswood) are used in America as shade and ornamental trees. In Europe, their role is far larger. <p> I remember that, come early summer, my mother gave me a little ladder and sent me out to a magnificent alley of linden trees in Waidhofen on Ybbs, Lower Austria, to collect the linden blossoms. Carefully dried, these were standard fare in most Austrian medicine cabinets. <p> The fragrant tea from linden blossoms is diaphoretic (sweat-inducing) and a most effective remedy against all kinds of chills and colds. Linden is also a non-narcotic sedative - particularly for children, if I remember correctly - which works well against anxiety and sleep disorders. (Far preferable to quite a range of modern medications, if you ask me!) <p> Linden bark makes highly-priced activated carbon (charcoal) against diarrhea and intoxications and, as Kochanowski mentions, linden blossom honey is the most praised of honeys, fit for the tables of nobility. (Although I, for one, prefer the dark, almost black honey from conifers blooming in the Austrian Alps; however, that delicacy is nigh impossible to obtain nowadays.) <p> Come to think of it, Kochanowski might have had other things than unadulterated honey on his mind. Honey was the only sweetener available in his days in Polish lands. Sweet desserts on noble tables would therefore have had to have honey in it. And what was the most highly treasured beverage? Right, bior miód (mead, honey wine). And if that isn't "spiritual"... <p> But back to linden blossom tea. It lowers blood pressure, supposedly to the point where it should not be taken in combination with antihypertensive drugs. This may be related to its calming, stress-reducing action. Reputedly it also works against arteriosclerosis. <p> Again, flash back to my youth. When I took a wood-carving course in highschool, what kind of wood did I use? Well, linden of course: the same wood that Tilman Riemenschneider, Veit Sto&szlig; (Wit Stwosz) and other artists used in the Middle Ages for their glorious wooden altars. Some of these transcendental works are shown on the left side. (About my own efforts in this area I remain justifiedly modest.) <p> Kochanowski barely hints at the veneration and societal significance that old Europe had afforded the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilia">linden tree</a>. Examples abound in the high- and low-brow arts of its role in communal gatherings of all kinds - festival dances, criminal courts, etc. - and its ability to bring about sleep and sweet dreams  under the tree itself, or drinking the tea from its blossoms, or enjoying the wine from its honey. <p> To me, the atmosphere of Kochanowski's <i>Lip</i> is that of the nourishing Mother Goddess. [<i>Ta lipa</i>, the linden tree, is feminine in Polish, just as <i>Die Linde</i> is in German.] In the Christian world, the Mother of God - and most-often prayed-to person in heaven - comes closest. This is one of the reasons why the lindenwood carvings on the left show several images of her. But the spiritual side of this poem is pagan - like a glimpse back into ancient Greek myth, when gods and humans used to talk to one another, and when heaven and earth were filled with the spirits of rivers and trees. <p> About anything else that happens to happen <a href="http://colecizj.easyvserver.com/pgvb3919.htm"><i>under der linden</i></a> (under the linden tree) we might never have known, if not Herr Walther von der Vogelweide (perhaps the most famous of the Minnes&auml;ngers, about 1170 to 1230) had given us a clue in a justly famous poem. Here is its last stanza (the earlier ones deal with the linden tree, a mangled bed made of flowers, and a thousand kisses sweeter than mead): <b> <font color="black"> <h3> under der linden </h3> <h4> (by Walther von der Vogelweide, last stanza only) <p> Daz er bî mir læge <br> wessez ieman <br> nu enwelle got sô schamt ich mich <br> wes er mit mir pflæge <br> niemer nieman <br> bevinde daz wan er und ich <br> und ein kleinez vogellîn <br> tandaradei <font color="red">*</font><br> daz mac wol getriuwe sîn </font> </b> </h4> <h5><b> [Later insert: I just found a translation into present-day German <a href="http://colecizj.easyvserver.com/pgvogunt.htm">here</a>, in case you are interested.] <p> Now, Middle High German isn't my forte (meaning, I don't know anything about it), but it sounds vaguely familiar to my Central-European pattern-recognizing brain. And for the dedicated viewer of my website - which you must be if you have gotten that far - I'll do anything. So here is my rough attempt at translation, just with you and prosody in mind: </h5></b> <b> <font color="black"> <h4> If his sleep beside me <br> anybody would <br> find out now - Help, God! - what shame and sin! <br> But the way he loved me <br> no-one ever could <br> know about, except for Me and Him - <br> and a tiny little bird, <br> tandaradei! <font color="red">*</font><br> which will never breathe a word! </font> </b> </h4> <p> <h5> <b> [ <font color="red">*</font> &nbsp; "tandaradei" is meaningless per se, but serves as a substitute here for some quite meaningful expressions frowned upon by society. <i>Tandaradei </i> may be considered, if you wish, to be a scat refrain from the Middle Ages, or the attempt to expand and euphemize four letters into four syllables. It is suggestive here of a mocking song&dance like "You don't know what I know; you will never know, and it's none of your business either" with a whirl of skirts. Prosodically speaking, its stresses lie on the first (tan) and the last syllable (dei). Similar examples of suggestive or onomatopoetic neologisms successfully matured to earworms in the folk songs of many a people.] <p><br> <img src="Kochanowski-Vogelweide-Trans292.jpg"> <p>Walther von der Vogelweide, ~1170-1230 <br> (Codex Manesse) <p> [Notice the birds? <i>Vogelweide</i> means "bird pasture". Not for feeding or watching, mind you, but for catching them. See the two cages?] <p> By the way, the prosody of this seemingly simple poem is intimidating. But, then, so is its subject. Herr Walther von der Vogelweide was a rebel in his poems  as you can check out for yourself, and pleasurably so, from the beautiful and far too few translations by <a href="http://www.dunphy.de/ac/Walther.html">Graeme Dunphy</a>. <p> Did Sir Walther's discreet little birdie bring to your mind the larks and starlings arguing (really: complaining) in Jan's linden tree? Good for you. That's what happens under linden trees. <p> In fact, the poetic Linden Tree  as given voice and personality by Kochanowski, who let his own person hide behind the stanzas: a stance that demonstrates how decidedly "modern" his poetry really was  mentions the birds and the bees explicitly, and talks of the taste of honey from sweet-smelling flowers. (Just a thought, sorry, however revealing such may be for the age...) <p> But if you happen to prefer <a href="Yeats-Aengus.html">a 20th century Irishman</a> to a 12th century Austrian, consider these famous lines, which to me are among some of the most beautiful in poetry: </b> </h5> <h4> <b><font color="black"> "...And pluck till time and times are done <br> The silver apples of the moon, <br> The golden apples of the sun." </font> </b> </h4> <h5> <b> <p> The linden tree offers both. Even if it  or rather She, if Greek myth and Polish gender are to be believed  cannot offer the immortality bestowed by the golden apples of the Hesperides. Appropiately, then, the administrations of the linden tree are contingent upon, and tinged by, the flow of time. Good for the linden tree, good for us. <p> The linden tree was the friend of both the aristocratic and the common man, and a good spirit (in the old Greek sense) in her own right. <p> When the tearful hero of Franz Schubert-Wilhelm M&uuml;ller's <i>Winterreise</i> leaves the hamlet of his unfaithful love to travel into the wilds of winter, it is the linden tree <a href="Mueller-Lindenbaum.html">("Der Lindenbaum")</a> who bids the last and only farewell  and who, though in vain, offers one last time peace and solace to the doomed artist's tortured body and soul. <p><br> <object width="340" height="285"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jyxMMg6bxrg&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jyxMMg6bxrg&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="340" height="285"></embed></object> <p><br> </font> </b></h5> </blockquote> <!-- ********** grey comments end ****** --> <p><br> </td> <!-- ******** END RIGHT TEXT ***** --> <!-- *** START VERTICAL BORDER *** --> <td width=64 background="Kochanowski-64.jpg"> <font color=#660099> ... </font> </td> <!-- **** END VERTICAL BORDER **** --> </tr> <!-- ******* END MAIN PART ******* --> <tr> <!-- ***** START LOWER TILE ****** --> <td background="Kochanowski-64.jpg" height=64 colspan=5> </td> <!-- ****** END LOWER TILE ******* --> </tr> <!-- ***** START MAIN PART ***** --> <tr> <!-- ** START VERTICAL BORDER ** --> <td width=64 background="Kochanowski-64.jpg"> </td> <!-- *** END VERTICAL BORDER *** --> <!-- @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ --> <!-- ***** START LEFT TEXT ***** --> <td background="Kochanowski-Paper64.jpg" width=384 align=center valign=top> <p><br> <!-- Symbols, Polish: A B C D y z     { | i j   Z [ ó --> <h3> <font color="red"> Osobisty Epilog </font> </h3> <!-- ******** grey comments start ***** --> <blockquote> <h5><font color=#666666> <p> Kiedy byli[my w koDcowym etapie przygotowania do tej web strony moja |ona Zofia, która jest urodzona w Polsce zabraBa tBumaczenia na spotkanie polskiej grupy malarzy (<a href="http://www.nsspa.ca/11.html">Nova Scotia Society of Polish Artists in Halifax</a>), zebrani tam arty[ci recytowali zwrotk po zwrotce raz po polsku raz po angielsku i z krytycznego podej[cia zamieniBo si szybko w pozytywne i peBne podziwu.<p> Bo wiadomo Polacy jak Polacy s z ognistym temperamentem i patriotyzmem, jednak przyjli te tBumaczenia z wielkim entuzjazmem i wieloma kielichami czerwonego wina "na zdrowie"... no i Jan Kochanowski byB midzy nimi i wspomagaB duchem. <p> Je[li mnie zapytasz drogi czytelniku o polski, austriacki lub kanadyjski patriotyzm, dziki za zapytanie, wszystkich nas wi|e historia i wydarzenia z przeszBo[ci kiedy partiotyzm byB wystawiony na trudne próby. Polacy nigdy nie zawiedli. <p> Kanadyjczycy jak popularnie jest wiadomo jak si spotkaj za granic czy to w Pary|u, Londynie lub Warszawie Bcz si w braterstwie niezale|nie czy s z Monrealu i mówi po francusku czy z Toronto i tylko po angielsku, zawsze znajd wspólny jzyk pod czerwonym li[ciem klonu kanadyjskiej flagi. <p> Austriacy cigle pamietaj z wdziczno[ci Polskiego Króla Jana III Sobieskiego który poprowadziB ogromn zjednoczon armi do obrony Wiednia w 1683 roku i obroniB nie tylko WiedeD ale chrze[cijaDstwo od nawaBy tureckiej. <p> Wikopedia informuje |e po bitwie o WiedeD austriacy znalezli w opuszczonych obozach turckich worki z nieupalan kaw. Niewielu wiedziaBo co to jest i co z tym zrobi ale jakowy polak FraDciszek Jerzy Kulczycki ( w Wiedniu znany jako Georg Franz Kolschitzki ) dobrze wiedzial co w tych workach jest i jaka jest ich warto[. PracowaB on przez dBugi czas na rzecz Króla midzy Turkami zbierajc inormacje, które pomogBy w zwycistwie rostrzygajcej bitwy pod Wiedniem. Kiedy go zapytano co chciaBby za swoje usBugi, Kulczycki nie chciaB ani zBota ani drogich kamieni tylko te worki z kaw i pozwolenie na otwarcie kawiarni, i tak to otworzyB pierwsz kawirni w Wiedniu i byBa to tylko trzecia w caBej Europie. <p> Kulczycki a mo|e tak|e z pomoc kapucyDskiego zakonnika Marko d'Aviano, który byB zaufanym Cesarza Rzymskiego Leopolda I zaczli dodawa do kawy mleko i miód i tak powstaB kawa "capucino" do dzisiaj wysoko ceniona na caBym [wiecie. <p> Musz tutaj doda |e dzisiaj kawa w Wiedniu jest podawana na wiele ró|nych sposobów. WiedeD sBynie z wielu kawiarni z dBug tradycj, s one ulubinymi miejscami artystów, pisarzy, gdzie spotykaj si na nigdy niekoDczce si polemiki. Oczywi[cie kawirnie s tak|e ulubionymi miejscami spotkaD dla zakochanych, znajomych nie wspominajc tysicy turystów odwiedzajcych Austri co roku. Ka|da okazja jest dobra |eby "pój[ na kaw" <p> Musz tutaj tak|e wspomnie |e bitwa w 1683 roku byBa drug i decydujc bitw która rostrzygnBa losy Europy i chrze[cijaDstwa. Pierwsza bitwa odbyBa si w 1529 roku jeszcze przed urodzeniem J. Kochanowskiego. <p> Przepraszam za maB historyczn dygresj, wracajc do polskiego patriotyzmu, ma ono gBbokie podBo|e historyczne. Polska przecie| po trzecim rozbiorze byBa zredukowana do maBego terenu koBo Warszawy, wolnego miasta GdaDsk i korytarza ich Bczcego. Marzeniem polaków byBa wolna Polska, które spBniBo si dopiero po drugiej wojnie [wiatowej. W midzyczsie walczyli o wolno[ na obcych ziemiach. Walka o wolno[ jest w polskiej krwi. <p> Trzeba doda |e tak patriotyczne paDstwo jak Stany Zjednoczone pamitaj wielu Polaków którzy walczyli o wolno[ na ich ziemi, na przykBad nazwiska GeneraBów Ko[ciuszk i PuBawskiego s bardzo znane w tym kraju i s cz[ci ich historii. <p> A je[li chodzi o narodowe flagi, to zauwa|, |e autorzy z tych trzech krajów, którzy brali udziaB w napisaniu tej strony, Austria, Polska i Kanada maj flagi w tych samych kolorach, biaBy i czerwony, kolory krwi i niewinno[ci. <p> Jan Kochanowski jest ukochany przez Polski naród, wielki patriota, pisaB swe wiersze po polsku bo jak <a href="http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miko%C5%82aj_Rej">MikoBaj Rej</a> powiedziaB, "Wszak Polacy nie gsi i swój jzyk maj" i wprowdziBi polski jzyk do salonów i literatury, gdzie przedtym byBa u|ywana tylko Bacina. Ta web strona jest zadedykowana pamici Jana Kochanowskiego, poety, polityka wielkiego patrioty i humanisty. <p><br> <hr color="red"><hr color="red"> <p><br> <h3> <font color="red"> Epilog polskiego tBumacza </font> </h3> <h5> Czytelniku, mam nadziej |e zaakceptujesz moje tBumaczenie na jzyk polski. Lepiej wyra|am swoje my[li w kolorach na pBótnie ni| w pisaniu. <p> Jednak gdy Walter wykazaB zainteresowanie przetBumaczenia wierszy J. Kochanowskiego nie mogBam si oprze pokusie |eby spróbowa. No bo to przeciesz jest naszy ukochany Kochanowski, i trudno go znalez w tBumaczeniach. A jego wiersze s jak |ywe, tak jak by byBy napisane dzisiaj, setki lat przeszBy a wiersze nic nie straciBy na warto[ci i piknie. <p> ChciaBabym w imieniu wszystkich zainteresowanych czytelników podzikowa mojemu m|owi za ogromny wysiBek i po[wicenie jakie wBo|yB w opracowanie tej web strony. <p> Bo przecie| mógB wybra co[ innego Batwiejszego dla niego. Dziki Walterowi te wiersze bd teraz dostpne nie tylko dla Polaków ale tak|e przyjacióB i znajomych mówicych po angielsku. <p> Tak|e chciaBabym tutaj zBo|y specjalne podzikowanie dla Mari DButek i Hani Zagrobie za pomoc w opracowaniu tej polskiej strony.<p> Zofia K. Aue <p><br> <img src="Kochanowski-Linde-Zofia-Trans292.jpg"> <p> Zofia K. Aue: <br> <font color="black"> "Niech ten pBomieD nigdy nie zaga[nie" </font> <br> (olej na pBótnie, troch zmniejszony ) </h5> <!-- <p><br> <hr color="red"> <p><br> <h5><font color=#666666> Zapraszamy wszystkich o wyra|nie opinii, krytyki, komentarzy na temat tej web strony, oczywi[cie po polsku <a href="mailto:waue@dal.ca?subject=Na zdrowie, Na lip"> <font color="red">tutaj.</font> </a> <p><br> <hr color="maroon"> <font color="maroon"> <!-- ----------------polish-------------- <p> SOME MORE ABOUT KOCHANOWSKI AT CZARNOLAS <br> </font><hr color="maroon"> <p><br> <hr color="maroon"> <font color="maroon"> FOLLOWING PART UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND TRANSLATION BY GUEST EDITOR ZBIGNIEW KWIATEK: </font><hr color="maroon"> <font color="maroon"> [Please drop by later for more pictures and information (in Polish) on the Jan Kochanowski Museum in Czarnolas] </font> <p><br> ***** START SYMBOLS, LETTERS ***** A B C D y z     { | i j   Z [ ó ******* END SYMBOLS, LETTERS ****** Czarnolas........(polish)....... <br> [Czarnolas ("Blackwood") was Jan Kochanowski's beloved home, where he wrote some of the most famous of his poetry. There stood (once) his famous linden tree. Today there stands a museum in his honor. If you look it up on the map of Eastern Poland, the closest small town is ZwoleD, the closest big one is Radom.] <p><br> <img src="Kochanowski-Trans292-S07748.jpg"> <p> ...................polish.......... <br> ["The Humanist of Czarnolas" <br> Contamporary tapestry by Danuta Paprowicz in the Czarnolas Museum. Kochanowsky is surrounded by (I think) the famous old linden tree of Czarnolas (which fell around 1970 in a severe storm).] <p><br> <img src="Kochanowski-Trans292-S07743.jpg"> <p> ----------polish............ <br> Book cover of 1584, of Kochanowski's famous "Fraszki" <p><br> <img src="Kochanowski-Trans292-S07746.jpg"> <p> ----------polish............ <br> Kochanowski's signature <p><br> <img src="Kochanowski-Trans292-S07752.jpg"> <p> ----------polish............ <br> Kochanowski's sarcophagus, <br> crypta of the church in ZwoleD <p><br> ....Photographs of Czarnolas, with URL link to Z.K. photographs to follow... <p> ...Further info for pictures in Polish AND English to follow, including link to Czarnolas Museum... ***** START SYMBOLS, LETTERS ***** A B C D y z     { | i j   Z [ ó ******* END SYMBOLS, LETTERS ****** --> </h5> </font> <!-- Symbols, Polish: A B C y z     { | i j   Z [ ó --> </font></h5> </blockquote> <!-- ********** grey comments end ****** --> <p><br> </td> <!-- ******** END LEFT TEXT ***** --> <!-- ** START MIDDLE COLUMN *** --> <td width=64 background="Kochanowski-64.jpg"> </td> <!-- *** END MIDDLE COLUMN **** --> <!-- @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ --> <!-- ***** START RIGHT TEXT ***** --> <td background="Kochanowski-Paper64.jpg" width=384 align=center valign=top> <p><br> <h3> <font color="red"> Personal Epilogue </font> </h3> <!-- ******** grey comments start ***** --> <blockquote> <h5><font color=#666666> <p> When my Polish-born wife Zofia and I were in the writing stages of this webpage, she took a draft of our translation and read it to a local Polish group, the <a href="http://www.nsspa.ca/11.html"> Nova Scotia Society of Polish Artists</a>. <p> Now you know how Poles are: fiercely emotional, fervently patriotic, and frequently congregating with lots of <i>Na zdrowie!</i>s (<i>To health!</i>  meaning, in this context, À votre santé!, Cheers!, Skol!, Prost!, etc.). Oh, sorry, I should have explained earlier on for the English readers of the first Kochanowski poem on this webpage, <i>"Na zdrowie"</i>, that, when Poles raise their glasses of vodka or mead, they also and always shout <p> <font color="red">NA ZDROWIE!</font> <p>  not for Kochanowski's sake, mind you, but for their own and that of others. You ask me how this fits the dubious Austrian that I am or, for that matter, the convinced Canadians that we all are? Very well, indeed; thank you. Patriotism is a family affair. We try to merge our particular patriotisms and leave the rest well enough alone. <p> For example, the Austrians - and not only the Austrians - still remember with gratitude the Polish king John III Sobieski, who led a big army to break the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vienna">siege of Vienna</a> in 1683 and, as they say, saved Christendom in the process. <p><br> <img src="Kochanowski-Linde-Sobieski-Trans292.jpg"> <p>Jerzy Siemiginowski-Eleuter, 1686 <br> (National Museum, Warsaw, Poland): <p> <font color="black">Jan III Sobieski near Vienna</font> <p> (with St. Stephen's Cathedral in the background) <p><br> Wikipedia says: <font color="maroon"><i>"After the battle, the Austrians discovered many bags of coffee in the abandoned Turkish encampment. Using this captured stock, Franciszek Jerzy Kulczycki </i></font> [a Pole, who, according to Viennese rumors, had spied successfully on the Turkish army and was hence rewarded with his choice of the spoils of war - ed.] <font color="maroon"><i> opened the third coffeehouse in Europe and the first in Vienna, where, according to legend, Kulczycki himself or Marco d'Aviano, the Capuchin friar and confidant of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, added milk and honey to sweeten the bitter coffee, thereby inventing cappuccino" </i> </font>  and who, I might add, became the legendary ancestor not only of "Kapuziner" and "Latte", but also of the many other delicious coffees the Viennese would later invent. <p> [Note: Coffee  just have a look at <a href="http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/BWV211-Eng3.htm">Bach's Coffee Cantata</a>  has changed its spelling to Kaffee in German, but if you mean Viennese coffee, please pronounce it with the accent on the second syllable as in "café"  or you may deserve what you get. And as for a sip of the Bach, if such be your wont, sample YouTube, for instance <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TUWI9U2CLo">here</a>. This may convince many a Starbucks and Tim Horton aficionada that, verily, verily, Bach's cup runneth over. In a delightful and abundantly funny fashion, I might add.] <p> Well, and so it came to pass that the Viennese stumbled on one of their famous cultural pastimes: their Kaff<u>ee</u>s and Cafés. The latter were their home away from home (often seconding as business venue, and sometimes even designated as such on their card). Not to forget that, but for the Cafés, the literature of Vienna's "Golden Autumn" (the fin de siècle) would never have been written... <p> [Just to write once more of good King Sobieski: Breaking the Vienna Siege of 1683 terminated  decisively in military terms  the <u>second</u> invasion of Austria by Turks. The first one occurred already in the fall of 1529, just before Kochanowski was born. The third one is well under way now, but fortunately under much more peaceful auguries.] <p> Sorry for this little historical excursion and back to Polish patriotism, which has not only genetic but also historic reasons: Poland once almost vanished from the map, having been reduced to the area around Warsaw. The spirit of revolution is therefore in the Polish blood. Even the most patriotic of countries, the great USofA, had the Polish general Ko[ciuszko help them in theirs. Have you ever wondered why there are so many Kosciusko streets in the States? <p><br> <img src="Kochanowski-Linde-Kosciusko-Trans292.jpg"> <p> Kazimierz Wojniakowski (1771-1812): <p> <font color="black">Tadeusz Ko[ciuszko, 1746 1817</font> <p><br> And, when it comes to flag-waving, did you notice that the three countries that contributed to this webpage - Poland, Austria and Canada - all fly the red-and-white, the colors of blood and innocence? <p> In the times of Kochanowski, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miko%C5%82aj_Rej">Mikolaj Rej</a>, a Polish poet and protestant in both senses of the word, cried, "Polacy nie gêsi I swój jêzyk maja!" <p> ['The Polish people are not geese and they have their own language' - meaning Rej wanted educated folk to switch from then prevalent Latin to Polish, making the need plain by referring to the Polish belief that geese merely imitate sound.] <p> Jan Kochanowski, justly beloved by the Poles, answered this <i>cri de coeur</i> of his compatriot, and he answered it well: It was he who gave his language to the Polish people. <h3> <p> <font color="red"> In admiration of this supreme achievement, this webpage is dedicated to the memory of this great man.</font> </h3> <p><br> <hr color="maroon"> <font color="maroon"> VERY PERSONAL EPILOGUE </font><hr color="maroon"> <font color="maroon"> (Written later, in a fit of unadulterated vanity) </font> <h5> <p> I was recently asked what, "in the name of html" (sorry for almost using a four-letter word!), Walther von der Vogelweide had to do with Jan Kochanowski. Little, I admitted to my Polish friends, aside from his mentioning the linden tree in his poem. But then, he was an Austrian. So am I: when I grew up as a kid in Austria, it often happened that people asked my name and, on hearing it, said, "Aha, so you are a Walther von der Vogelweide". <p> They might not have known the poetry of that nobleman from the bird pasture, but they surely knew his name. And if they did know a bit more about literature, they might add, "And also Hartmann von der Aue?" <p> So my parents assured me, tongue firmly in educational cheek, that I was indeed descended from both of these great medieval artists  and that, by Jove, I'd better live up to that great heritage or else! (That's Education with a capital E: Full steam ahead and common sense be damned!). <p> So, in honor of my "other" namesake, here are two "portraits" of Hartmann von der Aue [or, as this name was spelled at time, Ouwe or Owe, all meaning "meadow" (pasture, greens) in English]  the same ouwe that played an important supporting role in one of the other stanzas of Walther von der Vogelweide's poem, and the stuff on which Kochanowski's Linden asks you to rest your wary head, under the protection of her foliage and in the sweet scent of her blossoms... <p><br> <img src="Kochanowski-HartmannVonOwe-Manessische-Trans292.jpg"> <p> Hartmann von der Aue, ca. 1160-1210 <p> (from the <i>Manessische Liederhandschrift</i>) <p><br> <img src="Kochanowski-Linde-Aue-WeingartnerHandschrift-Trans292.jpg"> <p> Hartmann von der Aue <p> (from the <i>Weingartner Handschrift</i>) <p><br> So that's it. Now I have it off my chest and can walk away from my own WebMirror flattery. Sorry, but not sorry, dear Reader, for having been  no, not conceited, but perhaps a trifle self-indulgent! </font> </b></h5> </blockquote> <!-- ********** grey comments end ****** --> <p><br> </td> <!-- ******** END RIGHT TEXT ***** --> <!-- *** START VERTICAL BORDER *** --> <td width=64 background="Kochanowski-64.jpg"> <font color=#660099> ... </font> </td> <!-- **** END VERTICAL BORDER **** --> </tr> <!-- ******* END MAIN PART ******* --> <tr> <!-- ***** START LOWER TILE ****** --> <td background="Kochanowski-64.jpg" height=64 colspan=5> </td> <!-- ****** END LOWER TILE ******* --> </tr> </table> </center> <p> <br> <blockquote> <h4> <tt> <font color=#999999> <a href="0-TransList.html">Back to the List of Poems</a> <p> <a href="../index.html"> Back to Home Page </a><br> <p>First posted ("To Health"): November 2008 <br> Last updated: June 2010 <br> <!-- All pictures and text &copy; Walter A. Aue, 2003-2010 --> <p> N.B.: The frame around the poems shows the <br><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korwin_Coat_of_Arms">Korwin</a> coat-of-arms of Jan Kochanowski.<br> </blockquote> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p><br> <p> <img src="http://www.counting4free.com/cgi-bin/counter.pl?id=124222"> <font color="999999"> &nbsp; Kochanowski visitors (not visits) since May 15th, 2009</font> <p> </font> </tt> </h4> </font> <p> <br> <p> <br> </body> </html>