Wojciecha Kudyby Gorce Pana

Abstract

Wojciech Kudyba’s Gorce Pana Gorce of the Lord

In the 20th century religious poetry was mainly the domain of famous poet priests; today better known are secular authors from various generations, for example Zbigniew Jankowski, Wojciech Bonowicz, Krzysztof Koehler, Wojciech Wencel and Mirosław Dzień. Standing out with his avoidance of pathos and clarity of poetic diction, Wojciech Kudyba published his first book of poetry appreciated by literary critics, Tyszowce i inne miasta Tyszowce and other towns, thirteen years ago. It was followed in 2008 by Gorce Pana Gorce of the Lord — of key importance to the understanding of the role of the mountains in Kurdyba’s poetic imagination — and Ojciec się zmienia The Father is changing in 2011. The summa of the poet’s oeuvre so far, a selection entitled W końcu świat Finally the world, is divided into three parts: “Inne miasta” Other towns, “Inne góry” Other mountains and “Kogo brak” Who’s missing. They correspond to his earlier volumes of poetry. The poet’s own descriptions point to the considerable signifi cance of a coherent composition of the collection. Repetitions of the various motifs resemble a rosary or a sequence of mirror reflections. Hermeneutic analyses of the various poems lead to a conclusion that harmony, questioned by the possibility of self-irony, results in the eff ect of moved form, sought after by the poet, while literary geography, fascination with the mountains and respect for epiphany balance out the irony, stabilising the emphasis on the eternal harmony of the universe present in the beauty of Gorce.