The Crimean Sonnets (''Sonety krymskie'') are a series of 18

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

sonnets by

Adam Mickiewicz Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (; 24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. A principal figure in Polish Ro ...

, constituting an artistic telling of a journey through the

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

. They were published in 1826, together with a cycle of love poems called "The Odessan Sonnets" (''Sonety Odeskie''), in a collection called "Sonnets" (''Sonety'').

Importance

''The Crimean Sonnets'' is an expression of Mickiewicz's interest in the Orient, shared by many of the students of the

University of Vilnius Vilnius University ( lt, Vilniaus universitetas) is a public research university, oldest in the Baltic states and in Northern Europe outside the United Kingdom (or 6th overall following foundations of Oxford, Cambridge, St. Andrews, Glasgow and ...

. Involuntarily residing in Russia, Mickiewicz left Odessa and went on a journey, which turned out to be a trek to another world, his first initiation into "the East". The Crimean Sonnets are romantic descriptions of oriental nature and culture of the East which show the despair of the poet—a pilgrim, an exile longing for the homeland, driven from his home by a violent enemy. ''The Crimean Sonnets'' is considered the first sonnet cycle in

Polish literature Polish literature is the literary tradition of Poland. Most Polish literature has been written in the Polish language, though other languages used in Poland over the centuries have also contributed to Polish literary traditions, including Latin, ...

and a significant example of early

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 Poland, which gave rise to the huge popularity of this genre in Poland and inspired many

Polish poets List of poets who have written much of their poetry in Polish. See also Discussion Page for additional poets not listed here. There have been five Polish-language Nobel Prize laureates in literature: Henryk Sienkiewicz, Władysław Reymont, ...

of the

Romantic era 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 ...

as well as 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 Pol ...

period. The Crimean Sonnets were published in an English translation by

Edna Worthley Underwood Edna Worthley Underwood (January 1873 – June 14, 1961) was an American author, poet, and translator. Biography Born in Maine in January 1873, Edna Worthley received little education as a child, attending school occasionally, only when her famil ...

in 1917. A classic Russian rendition of one of the sonnets belongs to

Mikhail Lermontov Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov (; russian: Михаи́л Ю́рьевич Ле́рмонтов, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ˈjurʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈlʲɛrməntəf; – ) was a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called "the poet of the Caucas ...

. In 2021, an English translation by Kevin Kearney was published in Cardinal Points, Volume 11: this particular rendition remains faithful to the Petrarchan sonnet form and emulates the thirteen syllable line of the Polish originals by using the twelve syllable English hexameter line.

List of sonnets

*''Stepy akermańskie'' ("The Ackerman Steppe") *''Cisza morska'' ("The Calm of the Sea") *''Żegluga'' ("Sailing") *''Burza'' ("The Storm") *''Widok gór ze stepów Kozłowa'' ("Mountains from the Keslov Steppe") *''Bakczysaraj'' ("Baktschi Serai") *''Bakczysaraj w nocy'' ("Baktschi Serai by Night") *''Grób Potockiej'' ("The Grave of Countess Potocka") *''Mogiły Haremu'' ("The Graves of the Harem") *''Bajdary'' ("Baydary") *''Ałuszta w dzień'' ("Alushta by Day") *''Ałuszta w nocy'' ("Alushta by Night") *''Czatyrdah'' ("Tschatir Dagh") *''Pielgrzym'' ("The Pilgrim") *''Droga nad przepaścią w Czufut-Kale'' ("The Pass Across the Abyss in

Chufut-Kale __NOTOC__ Chufut-Kale ( crh, Çufut Qale, italic=yes ; Russian and Ukrainian: Чуфут-Кале - ''Chufut-Kale''; Karaim: Кала - קלעה - ''Kala'') is a medieval city-fortress in the Crimean Mountains that now lies in ruins. It is a nati ...

") *''Góra Kikineis'' ("The Kikineis Mountain") *''Ruiny zamku w Bałakławie'' ("The Ruins of

Balaklava Balaklava ( uk, Балаклáва, russian: Балаклáва, crh, Balıqlava, ) is a settlement on the Crimean Peninsula and part of the city of Sevastopol. It is an administrative center of Balaklava Raion that used to be part of the Cri ...

") *''Ajudah'' ("On Juda's Cliff")

Importance

List of sonnets

See also

References

Further reading