„Christ is the Aqua” – The Figure of Christ in the Metaphorical World of the Poetry of Symeon of Polotsk
Barbara Kozak
Instytut Słowiańszczyzny Wschodniej Uniwersytet Warmińsko-Mazurski w OlsztynieAbstract
Metaphor is universally manifest in every language past and present and conspicuously
embedded in the system of human cognition. We can assert that it plays the central role in the
process of exploration and familiarization of the world. As such, metaphor is also one of the
most interesting and complex means of poetic expression.
Metaphor confronts concepts and objects belonging to different orders to bring a complex
reality to the human dimensions, filtering and conditioning the world to his or her mindset
and mental capacities. As a tool of exploration and habituation of the world metaphor is
deeply rooted in human imagination and reflects the values of a community. It transforms
incomprehensible ideas – including scientific or metaphysical abstracts but also such concepts
as time or love – into familiar shapes and formulas.
This paper presents and reviews the process of metaphorization of Christ in the poetry of
Symeon of Polotsk. That Polish-Russian poet took profusely from the riches of the Baroque
to create such masterpieces as poems Chrystus Aqua, Kamień, Chleb, Kwiat, Dweri, Król,
Żywot, Męka, Śmierć – to name only those discussed in this paper. The poems selected by the
author form a particularly interesting continuum of visions entirely built around metaphors
which constitute and organize poetic expressions.
Keywords:
Symeon of Polotsk, baroque, metaphysical poetry, metaphor, metaphorizationReferences
Eliot, T.S. (1963). Poeci metafizyczni. Tłum. M. Żurowski. W: T.S. Eliot. Szkice literackie.
Redakcja, wybór, przedmowa i przypisy W. Chwalewik. Warszawa, PAX.
Forstner, D. (1990). Świat symboliki chrześcijańskiej. Tłum. i oprac. W. Zakrzewska, P. Pachciarek,
R. Turzyński. Warszawa, PAX.
Jankowska, L.A., Szcześniak, K. (1998). Właściwości językowo-stylistyczne wczesnej poezji
Symeona z Połocka (deklamacja „Wiersze o Męce Panskiej w cerkwi mowione”).
W: Z. Leszczyński (red.). Czterechsetlecie unii brzeskiej. Zagadnienia języka religijnego.
Lublin, Towarzystwo Naukowe KUL.
Lakoff, G., Johnson, M. (2010). Metafory w naszym życiu. Warszawa, PIW.
Балли, Ш. (1961). Французская стилистика. Москва, Изд-во Иностр. лит.
Баранов, А.Н., Сергеев, В.М. (1991). Герменевтика и проблемы моделирования понима-
ния текста. W: Прагматика и семантика: Сборник научно-аналитических обзоров.
Москва, Академия наук СССР, Ин-т науч. информации по общественным наукам.
Звонарева, Л. (2013). Живые кристаллы старого города. О писателе-просветителе
Симеоне Полоцком. Вышгород, nr 4−5, s. 165−170.
Кузнецов, А.М. (2000). Когнитология, „антропоцентризм”, „языковая картина мира”
и проблемы исследования лексической семантики. W: Этнокультурная специфика ре-
чевой деятельности. Москва, ИНИОН РАН.
Маковский, М.М. (1996). Образ мира и миры образов. Москва, Гуманит. изд. центр
ВЛАДОС.
Маслова, В.А. (2001). Лингвокультурология. Москва, Издательский центр «Академия».
Симеон Полоцкий (1990). Вирши. Cоставление, предисловие, научный комментарий
В. Былинин, Л. Звонарева. Минск, Мастацкая літаратура.
Instytut Słowiańszczyzny Wschodniej Uniwersytet Warmińsko-Mazurski w Olsztynie
Most read articles by the same author(s)
- Barbara Kozak, KIM JEST AMFINOGEN KRYŻANOWSKI – TAJEMNICZY MNICH Z SATYRY SYMEONA Z POŁOCKA , Acta Neophilologica: Vol. 1 No. XXI (2019): Acta Neophilologica
- Barbara Kozak, RUSSIA BEHIND A STONE WALL. NEW MIDDLE AGE IN THE NOVEL DAY OF THE OPRICHNIK BY VLADIMIR SOROKIN , Acta Neophilologica: Vol. 2 No. XVIII (2016): Acta Neophilologica
- Barbara Kozak, Passion Poetry by Symeon of Polotsk , Acta Neophilologica: No. XIII (2011): Acta Neophilologica
- Barbara Kozak, Adventures of Dilettantes by Bulat Okudzhava – Issues and Conflicts , Acta Neophilologica: Vol. 1 No. XIX (2012): Acta Neophilologica
Similar Articles
- Anna Maria Drogosz, Aleksandra Wojtunik, Communication of Difficult Emotions and Mental States in the Animated Series "Steven Universe" , Acta Neophilologica: Vol. 2 No. XXVI (2024): Acta Neophilologica
- Anna Drogosz, EVOLUTIONARY CHANGE IS A JOURNEY: FROM DARWIN TO DAWKINS , Acta Neophilologica: Vol. 2 No. XV (2013): Acta Neophilologica
- Zbigniew Chojnowski, Copernican Themes in Polish Humorous Poetry , Acta Neophilologica: Vol. 1 No. XXVI (2024): Acta Neophilologica
- Olga Letka-Spychała, Metaphorical Description of Sacred and Profane in the Inna Lisnyanskaya’s Poetry on the Basis of the Cycles Jerusalimskaya tetrad’ and Wprigorodie Sodoma (Cognitive Apprehension) , Acta Neophilologica: No. XIII (2011): Acta Neophilologica
- Beata Tarnowska, Obraz kaukaskich rzek w poezji Tadeusza Łady-Zabłockiego , Acta Neophilologica: Vol. 2 No. XXIII (2021): Acta Neophilologica
- Людмила Бабенко, Mechanism of Formation of a Literary and Art Concept MELANCHOLY (on the Material of Poetry of Anna Barkova) , Acta Neophilologica: Vol. 1 No. XVI (2014): Acta Neophilologica
- Grzegorz Igliński, Infinity on limits of the seas. Poetry and Life in "Baśń marynarska" [The Seafarer’s Fairy Tale] by Aleksander Szczęsny , Acta Neophilologica: Vol. 2 No. XXVII (2025): Acta Neophilologica
- Dorota Gładkowska, TRANSMEDIAL EXPLOITATION OF SELECTED PASSAGES OF JOHN DONNE’S 16TH- AND 17TH-CENTURY POETRY AND PROSE AS AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE SOCIAL USEFULNESS OF LAUGHTER , Acta Neophilologica: Vol. 1 No. XXII (2020): Acta Neophilologica
- Ольга Гамали, Ольга Каневская, THE WAYS OF AUTHOR’S SELF-PRESENTATION IN RUSSIAN ROCK POETRY , Acta Neophilologica: Vol. 2 No. XVII (2015): Acta Neophilologica
- Ewa Szczepkowska, CULINARY MOTIFS IN POPULAR POLISH CONTEMPORARY WOMEN’S FICTION , Acta Neophilologica: Vol. 1 No. XIX (2017): Acta Neophilologica
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.
