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 devotio ...
'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 fixed poetic form with a structure traditionally consisting of fourteen lines adhering to a set Rhyme scheme, rhyming scheme. The term derives from the Italian word ''sonetto'' (, from the Latin word ''sonus'', ). Originating in ...
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 and Portuguese poet
Francisco de Sá de Miranda, who introduced the sonnet into their native literatures. He also wrote the first Polish poem in
ottava rima, and was an early adopter of the
Sapphic stanza in Polish poetry. His best-known poem is a sonnet (based on one of Fiamma's) similar to
Philip Sidney
Sir Philip Sidney (30 November 1554 – 17 October 1586) was an English poet, courtier, scholar and soldier who is remembered as one of the most prominent figures of the Elizabethan era, Elizabethan age.
His works include a sonnet sequence, ' ...
's Sonnet 89 from ''
Astrophel and Stella'' ("Now that of absence the most irksome night"), with the use of
epistrophe
Epistrophe (, "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 counterpart of anaphora. I ...
(repetition of end-words) instead of rhyme.
Notes
References
1607 deaths
16th-century Polish poets
16th-century Polish male writers
Polish male poets
Sonneteers
Year of birth uncertain
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