Sebastian Grabowiecki (c. 1543 – 1607) was a Polish Catholic priest and poet. He was the author of ''Setnik rymów duchownych'' and ''Setnik rymów duchownych wtóry'' (''Spiritual Rhymes'' parts 1 and 2). His work, focused entirely on religious themes (like

George Herbert George Herbert (3 April 1593 – 1 March 1633) was an English poet, orator, and priest of the Church of England. His poetry is associated with the writings of the metaphysical poets, and he is recognised as "one of the foremost British devoti ...

's), was strongly influenced by Italian poetry, especially by ''Rime Spirituali'' by Gabriele Fiamma. One of the founding fathers of Polish lyric poetry, Grabowiecki was one of the first poets to write

sonnet A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's invention, ...

s in Polish.Lucylla Pszczołowska, Wiersz polski. Zarys historyczny, Wrocław 1997, p. 95 (in Polish). Thus he holds a position comparable to Thomas Wyatt,

Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1516/1517 – 19 January 1547), Order of the Garter, KG, was an English nobleman, politician and poet. He was one of the founders of English Renaissance poetry and was the last known person executed at the instan ...

and Portuguese poet

Francisco de Sá de Miranda Francisco de Sá de Miranda (28 August 1481 – 17 May 1558; ) was a Portuguese poet of the Renaissance. Life Sá de Miranda was born in Coimbra, the son of a canon Gonçalo Mendes de Sá belonging to the ancient and noble family of Sá an ...

, who introduced the sonnet into their native literatures. He also wrote the first Polish poem in

ottava rima Ottava rima is a rhyming stanza form of Italian origin. Originally used for long poems on heroic themes, it later came to be popular in the writing of mock-heroic works. Its earliest known use is in the writings of Giovanni Boccaccio. The otta ...

, and was an early adopter of the

Sapphic stanza in Polish poetry The Sapphic stanza is the only stanzaic form adapted from Greek and Latin poetry to be used widely in Polish literature. It was introduced during the Renaissance, and since has been used frequently by many prominent poets. The importance of the Sa ...

. His best-known poem is a sonnet (based on one of Fiamma's) similar to

Philip Sidney Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philip ...

's Sonnet 89 from '' Astrophel and Stella'' ("Now that of absence the most irksome night"), with the use of

epistrophe Epistrophe ( el, ἐπιστροφή, "return") is the repetition of the same word or words at the end of successive phrases, clauses or sentences. It is also known as epiphora and occasionally as antistrophe. It is a figure of speech and the coun ...

(repetition of end-words) instead of rhyme.

Notes

References

1607 deaths 16th-century Polish poets Polish male poets Sonneteers Year of birth uncertain {{Poland-poet-stub