Instytut Badań Literackich Polskiej Akademii Nauk

Transformations of love mythology as a construction principle of Szymon Zimorowic’s “Roksolanki"

Year of publication: 2020
Page range: 11 (33-43)
Keywords: Szymon Zimorowic, love mythology, poetry cycle, axiology, symbolism, marriage, reinterpretation
Author: Robert Mileszczyk (Maria Curie-Skłodowska University)


Abstract

“Roksolanki" by Szymon Zimorowic is one of the greatest achievements of Polish love poetry. It is characterized by an unconventional and multi-faceted approach to the subject matter, which is strongly tied with tradition. The reader is presented with the perspective from amor coniugalis to amor profanus. There are praises of the sanctity of the marriage relationship, which coexist in one choir with the acceptance and appreciation of promiscuity. As a result, the structure of the cycle seems to be spontaneous and therefore more authentic as a ritual form. In the construction of the work, however free, there are hidden superior semantic structures based on constantly recurring and evolving motifs. Through gradual transformations in the sphere of symbolism, imagery and axiology, the poet changes the vision of love mythology, degrading the position of Venus and Cupid, and in their place, as patrons of love, placing Rozymund
and Lilidora.

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