Antoni Lange (1863 – 17 March 1929) was a Polish poet, philosopher, polyglot (15 languages), writer, novelist, science-writer,

reporter A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and

translator Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

. A representative of Polish

Parnassianism Parnassianism (or Parnassism) was a French literary style that began during the positivist period of the 19th century, occurring after romanticism and prior to symbolism. The style was influenced by the author Théophile Gautier as well as by th ...

and

symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: Arts * Symbolism (arts), a 19th-century movement rejecting Realism ** Symbolist movement in Romania, symbolist literature and visual arts in Romania during the late 19th and early 20th centuries ** Russian sy ...

, he is also regarded as belonging to the Decadent movement. He was an expert on

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

, French literature and a popularizer of Eastern cultures. His most popular novel is '' Miranda''. He translated English, French, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, Indian,

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also

* * * Old Serbian (disambiguat ...

, Egyptian and Oriental writers into

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

and Polish poets into French and English. He was also one of the most original poets of the

Young Poland Young Poland ( pl, Młoda Polska) was a modernist period in Polish visual arts, literature and music, covering roughly the years between 1890 and 1918. It was a result of strong aesthetic opposition to the earlier ideas of Positivism. Young Pola ...

movement. His work is often compared to

Stéphane Mallarmé Stéphane Mallarmé ( , ; 18 March 1842 – 9 September 1898), pen name of Étienne Mallarmé, was a French poet and critic. He was a major French symbolist poet, and his work anticipated and inspired several revolutionary artistic schools of ...

and

Charles Marie René Leconte de Lisle Charles Marie René Leconte de Lisle (; 22 October 1818 – 17 July 1894) was a French poet of the Parnassian movement. He is traditionally known by his surname only, Leconte de Lisle''. Biography Leconte de Lisle was born on the French overseas ...

. Lange was an uncle of the poet

Bolesław Leśmian Bolesław Leśmian (born Bolesław Lesman; January 22, 1877The exact date of his birth is disputed: the act of birth mentions 1877, Leśmian himself used 1878, while the date mentioned on his tombstone is 1879. – November 5, 1937) was a Pol ...

Life

Lange was born in Warsaw into the patriotic Jewish family of Henryk Lange (1815–1884) and Zofia ''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'' Eisenbaum (1832–1897). His father took part in the

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in W ...

against the Russian Partition of Poland. He was an admirerer of

Romantic literature Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

and its ideals. Antoni Lange enrolled at Warsaw University but around 1880 he was expelled for his patriotic activity by the Tsarist

namiestnik A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...

Apuchtin who ruled the university at that time. He supported himself financially as a tutor but also published poetry under the pen-names Napierski and Antoni Wrzesień. He decided to study in Paris where he encountered new trends in literature, philosophy and art. In France he became familiar with the theories of Jean Martin Charcot, as well as

Spiritualism Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (when not lowercase) ...

parapsychology Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena (extrasensory perception, telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry) and other paranormal claims, for example, those related to near ...

, the philosophy of

Arthur Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer ( , ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is best known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the phenomenal world as the prod ...

and

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

, oriental religions, European and Eastern literature and modern

literary criticism Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

. He took part in the literary meetings of

. Lange returned to his homeland upon Poland's return to independence, and became one of the better known members of the Warsaw Society of Writers and Journalists (), the precursor of the

Polish Academy of Literature The Polish Academy of Literature ( pl, Polska Akademia Literatury, PAL) was one of the most important state institutions of literary life in the Second Polish Republic, operating between 1933 and 1939 with the headquarters in Warsaw. It was foun ...

founded in 1933. Bolesław Prus, Julian Ochorowicz and Lange were the first Polish spiritists. He rented an

apartment An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...

at Nowy Świat Street together with

Władysław Reymont Władysław Stanisław Reymont (, born Rejment; 7 May 1867 – 5 December 1925) was a Polish novelist and the 1924 laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature. His best-known work is the award-winning four-volume novel '' Chłopi'' (''The Peasants ...

, a Polish writer and the winner of the Nobel Prize of 1924. Stanisław Brzozowski called Lange ''a real and not frequently European mind'' and

Julian Tuwim Julian Tuwim (13 September 1894 – 27 December 1953), known also under the pseudonym "Oldlen" as a lyricist, was a Polish poet, born in Łódź, then part of the Russian Partition. He was educated in Łódź and in Warsaw where he studied la ...

called him ''a master of reflective poetry''. During this time Lange was a member of the Society of Polish Writers and Journalists. However, with the sharp growth of his popularity as a poet his poems became more sceptical, pessimistic and hermetic. The main theme of the poems of this period was the feeling of being isolated and misunderstood by the crowd. At the beginning of the 20th century he withdrew from public life and became lonely and forgotten. He collected his last poems in notebooks and never allowed anyone to publish them. Lange's prestige as a writer was undermined by a new generation of avant-gardists. He died in isolation, destitution and obscurity in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

in 1929. He never married and had no children. Antoni Lange was a friend of

, Jan Kasprowicz and

Stanisław Przybyszewski Stanisław Przybyszewski (; 7 May 1868 – 23 November 1927) was a Polish novelist, dramatist, and poet of the decadent naturalistic school. His drama is associated with the Symbolist movement. He wrote both in German and in Polish. Life Stanis� ...

. There are only two portraits of Lange, one of them was painted by Stanisław Wyspiański in 1890.

Writing

Lange was a prolific and versatile writer. He wrote many novels ('' Miranda''), short stories (), dramas (), essays and poems. Lange's poetry is contemplative and erudite. It connects the traditions of European culture with

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

. The overriding theme of Lange's existential concerns was 'extremity' and the 'cycle' of death. In order to form of the poetry Lange connect to contradictory points of

impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

sentimentality and experimental theories of

. Lange was fond of rare poetic forms:

acrostic An acrostic is a poem or other word composition in which the ''first'' letter (or syllable, or word) of each new line (or paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet. The term comes from the Fre ...

s, dactyls, pantoums, praeludiums, scherzos, canticles and

triolet A triolet (, ) is almost always a stanza poem of eight lines, though stanzas with as few as seven lines and as many as nine or more have appeared in its history. Its rhyme scheme is ABaAabAB (capital letters represent lines repeated verbatim) and ...

s. He was also the author of many

pastoral A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...

s concerning the

metaphysical Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

side of village life; historiosophical songs inspired by the philosophy of

Juliusz Słowacki Juliusz Słowacki (; french: Jules Slowacki; 4 September 1809 – 3 April 1849) was a Polish Romantic poet. He is considered one of the "Three Bards" of Polish literature — a major figure in the Polish Romantic period, and the father of mode ...

; and exotic genesis mythologies from all over the world (from Mexico to Japan). Lange was also the author of many lyrical essays presenting original views about the relationship between poet and reader concerning eschatological issues (''Thoughts'', ''The Grave''). In the first phase of his writing he was a lover of aestheticism, formal innovation and the theories of Stéphane Mallarmé. However, later he faced to

primitivism Primitivism is a mode of aesthetic idealization that either emulates or aspires to recreate a "primitive" experience. It is also defined as a philosophical doctrine that considers "primitive" peoples as nobler than civilized peoples and was an o ...

, anonymity, writings of folk poets and 16th century poets and blank verse. Both Lange and

Jerzy Żuławski Jerzy Żuławski (; 14 July 1874 – 9 August 1915) was a Polish literary figure, philosopher, translator, alpinist and patriot whose best-known work is the science-fiction epic, '' Trylogia Księżycowa'' (''The Lunar Trilogy''), written be ...

are often referred to as "The Pioneers of Polish Science-Fiction". Lange's short stories from the book (In the Fourth Dimension, 1912) such as (Grandma), (Puzzle), (The New House) and (Dr. Chang Fu Li's Report) are regarded as early examples of science fiction and weird fiction in Poland. The main themes of the stories are: hypnosis, the elixir of youth, eternal love and the materialization of phantoms. On a different note, Dr. Chang Fu Li's eponymous report, "written in Paris in 2652", is concerned with the

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

brought about by the re-routing of the

Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension the North Atlantic Current, North Atlantic Drift, is a warm and swift Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida a ...

and the subsequent freezing over of Europe, with China taking over as the leading civilization. Lange's works influenced many poets of the next generation, for example:

Antoni Słonimski Antoni Słonimski (15 November 1895 – 4 July 1976) was a Polish poet, artist, journalist, playwright and prose writer, president of the Union of Polish Writers in 1956–1959 during the Polish October, known for his devotion to social justic ...

Julian Przyboś Julian Przyboś (5 March 1901 – 6 October 1970) was a Polish poet, essayist and translator, one of the most important poets of the Kraków Avant-Garde. Life Przyboś was born in Gwoźnica near Strzyżów to a peasant family. From 1912, he ...

Jan Lechoń Leszek Józef Serafinowicz (pen name: Jan Lechoń; 13 March 1899 in Warsaw, Congress Poland, Russian Empire – 8 June 1956 in New York City) was a Polish poet, literary and theater critic, diplomat, and co-founder of the Skamander literary move ...

, Leopold Staff. Paradoxically, most of these poets criticized Lange for his

anachronism An anachronism (from the Ancient Greek, Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronology, chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time per ...

, eccentricity and overintellectualism. Lange was also a left-wing journalist. He wrote for many important Polish newspapers such as and . He created an original way of

cultural assimilation Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's majority group or assume the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group whether fully or partially. The different types of cultural assi ...

for Jews via mixed marriage. Lange's numerous translations of classic 19th century literature from all over the world are still highly regarded. His translations of ''The Golem'' by Gustav Meyrink and poems by

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poetry, French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticis ...

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

and

George Gordon Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

are masterpieces of Polish translation. He also edited many

anthologies In book publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed work ...

of his own translations of Egyptian, Syrian, Persian, Arabic, Indian and Hebrew poems. His main sources of inspiration were: the poetry of the

Three Bards The Three Bards (, ) are the national poets of Polish Romanticism, Polish Romantic literature. They lived and worked in exile during the partitions of Poland which ended the existence of the Polish sovereign state. Their Tragedy, tragic Poetry, po ...

,; the theories of Stéphane Mallarmé; the writings of Charles-Marie-René Leconte de Lisle;

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

epics The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) is a set of software tools and applications used to develop and implement distributed control systems to operate devices such as particle accelerators, telescopes and other large sci ...

of ancient India such as ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

'' or ''

Savitri Savitri or Savithrri may refer to: In Hinduism * Savitri, with all vowels short, a Roman-phonetic spelling of the Rigvedic solar deity Savitr *Sāvitrī, a name of the ''Gayatri Mantra'' dedicated to Savitr *Savitri (goddess), the consort of Brah ...

''; and the poetry of the Polish

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

era, especially

metaphysical poets The term Metaphysical poets was coined by the critic Samuel Johnson to describe a loose group of 17th-century English poets whose work was characterised by the inventive use of conceits, and by a greater emphasis on the spoken rather than lyrica ...

such as

Mikołaj Sęp Szarzyński Mikołaj Sęp Szarzyński (c. 1550 – c. 1581) was an influential Polish poet of the late Renaissance who wrote in both Polish and Latin. He was a pioneer of the Baroque and the greatest representative of the metaphysical movement of the era ...

and Józef Baka because of their obsession with death.

''Vita Nova'' and other love poems

Lange was the author of many love poems influenced by Romanticism, spiritualism and Indian mythology. Other love poems by Lange, for example ''Vita Nova'' (A New Life) written in 1898, present an original vision of a decadent and melancholy poet who momentarily becomes an Übermensch thanks to the illusion of requited love. Unfortunately, there is always a conflict between the vision of ideal love and its realisation. Lange takes also notes the "painful impossibility" of the absolute and eternal union of lovers' souls; he creates a pessimistic vision of the relationship between man and woman, which is always burdened by the certainty that complete fulfilment is impossible. In Lange's verses love always makes the subject feel as if he has been ''exiled'' from and ''deprived'' of a latent part of his own existence, but simultaneously he believes that lovers can communicate and feel the same by transmitting their pain and the power of their affection in defiance of metaphorical distance.

''Deuteronomion'', ''The Hour'', ''Logos'' and ''Sonnets of Veda''

The most characteristic feature of Lange's writings is the strong influence of Eastern traditions, religions and philosophies such as the

Veda FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Co ...

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...

ism and

. Written in 1887, the cycle of seven sonnets entitled ''The Sonnets of Veda'' shows the seven stages of human existence on the way to

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

. Similar in form to the ''Sonnets of Veda'' is the ''Logos'' cycle of ten sonnets which discuss ten points of view on the ''logos'' of history by ten outstanding representatives of the

historiosophy Philosophy of history is the philosophical study of history and its discipline. The term was coined by French philosopher Voltaire. In contemporary philosophy a distinction has developed between ''speculative'' philosophy of history and ''critic ...

of Polish Romanticism.There are: Józef Hoene-Wroński, Józef Gołuchowski, Adam Mickiewicz, Andrzej Towiański,

Zygmunt Krasiński Napoleon Stanisław Adam Feliks Zygmunt Krasiński (; 19 February 1812 – 23 February 1859) was a Polish poet traditionally ranked after Adam Mickiewicz and Juliusz Słowacki as one of Poland's Three Bards – the Romantic poets who influenced ...

, Henryk Cieszkowski, Bronisław Ferdynand Trentowski,

Karol Libelt Karol Libelt (8 April 1807, neighborhood of Chwaliszewo in Poznań, Duchy of Warsaw - 9 June 1875, Brdowo) was a Polish philosopher, writer, political and social activist, social worker and liberal, nationalist politician, and president of the ...

Józef Kremer Józef Kremer (February 22, 1806, Kraków - June 2, 1875 Kraków), was a Polish historian of art, a philosopher, an aesthetician and a psychologist. Life He studied at Kraków, Berlin, Heidelberg and Paris. He was a professor of philosophy and r ...

The poems are strongly influenced by ideas of messianism. Fałat Świteź

''The Hour'' written in 1894 was the first prose by Lange, but the short

symbolic Symbolic may refer to: * Symbol, something that represents an idea, a process, or a physical entity Mathematics, logic, and computing * Symbolic computation, a scientific area concerned with computing with mathematical formulas * Symbolic dynamic ...

novel was published in 1895 in the first volume of ''Poems''. It is a story of

Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified wit ...

and Auora, the two ancient

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of s ...

es who descend to

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

to witness human life. In some ways ''The Hour'' is similar to August Strindberg's 1901 drama '' A Dream Play'' and '' The Woman without a Shadow'' written by Hugo von Hofmannsthal in 1919. The novel contains many mystical fragments stylized as

religious writings Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual prac ...

, a

psalms The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...

, a

manifesto A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...

greek tragedy Greek tragedy is a form of theatre from Ancient Greece and Greek inhabited Anatolia. It reached its most significant form in Athens in the 5th century BC, the works of which are sometimes called Attic tragedy. Greek tragedy is widely believed t ...

and the ode. It also connects prose with elements of poetry and drama. One of the most representative of Lange's works is ''Deuteronomion'', a mystical

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

ic poem written in Paris in 1902. It is hermetic and hard to interpret because of its many allusions to the Bible,

Kabbalah Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...

Sanscrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the lat ...

writings and ancient Slavic myths. It speaks of a Poet's spiritual journey to achieve an initiation that is both personal and universal. It is significant that ''Deuteronomion'' begins with the ''Epilogue to myself'' and ends with the ''Prologue to the unknown god''.

Narrative poems

Lange inaugurated a return to

narrative poetry Narrative poetry is a form of poetry that tells a story, often using the voices of both a narrator and characters; the entire story is usually written in metered verse. Narrative poems do not need rhyme. The poems that make up this genre may be s ...

, a form which was unprecedented in Polish literature. This form of poetry was mainly used in Romanticism (for example, by

and Adam Mickiewicz) and was no longer used after the late 19th century. Therefore, Lange was probably the last and only poet who wrote narrative poems in Poland. There are: * ''The Oracle'', a poem based on an Indian legend * ''Ilya Muromets'', a poem inspired by

bylina A ( rus, были́на, p=bɨˈlʲinə; pl. ) is an Old Russian oral epic poem. Byliny narratives are loosely based on historical fact, but greatly embellished with fantasy or hyperbole. The word derives from the past tense of the verb '' ...

* ''The Vision of Catherine of Alexandria'' Lange wrote also ''A Song of'' , a narrative poem referring to the character of . In

pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...

Slavic mythology Slavic mythology or Slavic religion is the religious beliefs, myths, and ritual practices of the Slavs before Christianisation, which occurred at various stages between the 8th and the 13th century. The South Slavs, who likely settled in the B ...

a was a guardian spirit of clouds and a lonely dreamer who predicted the weather. It was thought that were the lost souls of those who had committed suicide and victims of murder. One would call them by sprinkling flour into the wind or fire. ''A Song of'' by Lange tells the story of a young sensitive man who lost touch with reality and set off on the path of solitary existence.

Philosophy

In Lange's cosmogony-philosophy, he announced that evolution of the soul is parallel to evolution of a nation. Capitalism is the enemy of this principle because it acts against individualism, so capitalism is the ideology of the anonymous crowd. If there is no individualism among the people, then there is also not a problem of "bad" versus "good". Then the world comes to disturb its own logic. According to Lange, a world that 'was being born' from ideal space, is still coming to the highest stage of evolution; sometime, it will return to its primary stage. Every step to evolution is a step to the ideal primary. An exception of this "rule of time-line" is the person of genius, who is between the times. In Lange's philosophy he referred to

Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature and philosophy. Born in Ecclefechan, Dum ...

, Giambattista Vico and

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends ...

. Lange was interested in

spiritualism Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (when not lowercase) ...

and

to contain his own philosophy.

Critic of Romanticism

An important part of Lange's writing was the criticism of legacy of

romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

in modern poetry. In 1924 he founded ''Astrea'', a science-magazine and the first forum about Polish and European romanticism. Lange rejected romantic illumination. In his view, theological truth is within the reach only of erudition, intellect and afterthought. Lange criticized also the importance of

individualism Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and to value independence and self-reli ...

and the authorial personality. Placing the poem as an artwork at the center, as an '' eidos'' of poetry, he affirmed the ''poem's own existence'' and a ''clear idea of creation;'' therefore he disagreed with the cult of individualism.

Other works

* – a philosophical treatise about an archetypical * ("The Hour") – an

novel about the connections between the ideal and the material world, estheticism in poetry and real life, etc. * ("The Funeral of Shelley") – an ode to

Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 17928 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achie ...

* ("Books of the Prophets") – a collection of

cosmogonical Cosmogony is any model concerning the origin of the cosmos or the universe. Overview Scientific theories In astronomy, cosmogony refers to the study of the origin of particular astrophysical objects or systems, and is most commonly used i ...

poetry referred to

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion and one of the world's History of religion, oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian peoples, Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a Dualism in cosmology, du ...

and Islam * ''Exotica'' – an historiosophical poem about the ''genesis'' of the world, God, man and woman * ("Posthumous Verses") – a collection of early poems strongly influenced by

positivism Positivism is an empiricist philosophical theory that holds that all genuine knowledge is either true by definition or positive—meaning ''a posteriori'' facts derived by reason and logic from sensory experience.John J. Macionis, Linda M. G ...

* ("Contemplations" or "Thoughts") – a philosophical poem about the dead, strongly influenced by

poetry and

decadentism The Decadent movement (Fr. ''décadence'', “decay”) was a late-19th-century artistic and literary movement, centered in Western Europe, that followed an aesthetic ideology of excess and artificiality. The Decadent movement first flourished ...

* ("Drunken Ballads") – a lyrical essay about the drugs and alcohol enjoyed by decadent poets * ("Meeting") – a

frame story A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

about the suicide of young man after a tragic love affair * ("The Vision of Saint Catherine of Alexandria") – a lyrical story about the social and metaphysical consequences of the

death of God "God is dead" (German: ; also known as the death of God) is a statement made by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche's first use of this statement is his 1882 ''The Gay Science'', where it appears three times. The phrase also app ...

* ("In the Fourth Dimension") – one of the first science-fiction books in Polish literature * '' Miranda'' – an

novel about tragic love and the vision of an ideal woman in an ideal civilisation of

s * ("The Wild Rose") * ("Attila") * – a play about the life of the Polish Romantic poet

Antoni Malczewski Antoni Malczewski (3 June 1793 – 2 May 1826) was a Polish romantic poet, known for his only work, "a narrative poem of dire pessimism", ''Maria'' (1825). At the times, prominent and scandalizing was his autodestructive romance with a married ...

* '' Vita Nova'' – a cycle of 11 philosophical poems about an ideal vision of love, pain and loneliness * ("Odes to Friends") – a collection of odes to Polish poets such as Jan Kasprowicz and

Zenon Przesmycki Zenon Przesmycki ( pen name ''Miriam''; Radzyń Podlaski, 22 December 1861 – 17 October 1944, Warsaw), was a Polish poet, translator and art critic of the literary period of Młoda Polska, who studied law in Italy, France and England; in 1887� ...

Selected translations

* English (poems from ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatur ...

'' by

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...

, poems of

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

, short-stories of

Herbert George Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (sf-en ...

, ''

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse (poetry), verse. A second edition fo ...

'' of

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...

, '' Novum Organum'' of

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...

) * French (poems of Charles-Marie-René Leconte de Lisle,

, Théodore de Banville, selected works of

Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , , ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. Highly influential, he has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flauber ...

, poetry by Maurice Maeterlinck) * Italian (works of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, ''New Science'' of Giambattista Vico) * German (works of

and

)

Bibliography

Poems

* (1887) * (1890) * (1890) * (1895) * (1895) * ''Logos'' (1895) * (I – 1895; II – 1898) * (1901) * (1901) * (1901) * (1902) * ''Deuteronomion'' (1902) * (1903) * (1903) * (1906) * (1907) * (1914) * ''Ilia Muromiec'' (1916) * (1925) * (1927) * (1928) * (1931) * (1931)

Novels and short stories

* (1894) * (1895) * (1907) * (1910) * (1910) * (1911) * (1912) * '' Miranda'' (1924) * (1925) * (1926) * (1926)

Plays

* (1898) * (1909) * (1931)

Essays

* (1890) * (1892) * (1895) * (1897) * (1900) * (1905) * (1905) * (1921) * (1927)

References

External links

Lange's poems in Esperanto

A poem ''Madame S...'' original written by Lange in French

Copies of the first editions of twenty books of Lange
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lange, Antoni 1863 births 1929 deaths Polish poets 19th-century Polish Jews Polish science fiction writers Polish mystery writers Symbolist poets Decadent literature Polish occultists Polish Buddhists Polish orientalists Polish translators Translators from Serbian Translators from English Jewish Polish writers Jewish philosophers Polish scholars of Buddhism Writers from Warsaw Polish male poets 19th-century Polish philosophers 20th-century Polish philosophers