Who is Mikolaj Sep Szarzynski

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 in Poland. His love poems are often classed as mannerist. Jan Błoński has called Sęp Szarzyński a "mystical poet full of abstraction", and Wiktor Weintraub has called him "the most outstanding poet of the times of Jan Kochanowski". The poet's status in the history of Polish literature is controversial.

Life

Little is known about Sęp Szarzyński's personal life. He was born in Zimna Woda near Lwów, the eldest of three sons, and educated at the universities of Wittenberg and Leipzig. His stay in Germany brought him close t...
Read Full Biography of Mikolaj Sep Szarzynski


Mikolaj Sep Szarzynski Poems

  • Song I
    Dear people, swelled in fool's wisdom
    And clinging to error so fanciful,
    To the skies, adorned in hosts of fair stars,
    Look up - and make bright your dimlit minds! ...
  • Song Ii
    Why flatter thyself, Tyrant,
    In ways great in evil?
    The Lord's goodness ceases not
    Keeping watch on the pious. ...
  • Sonnet V
    'Tis hard to love not, whilst to love
    Be sad joy, if by lust misled,
    Thoughts too sweetly gaze on things
    That perforce must change and decay. ...
  • Cupid's Statue
    He's but a child, tho
    Unscathed he'd not be
    Who despiseth him.
    Gods so pompous ...
  • Song Vi
    Our almighty Lord, eternal, unfathomed,
    To Thee Cherubin proclaim "Holy, holy, holy!"
    To Thee too, Seraph, true love's pure brand;
    A fiery firmament tho marks Thy glory's stead. ...
Read All Poems


Top 10 most used topics by Mikolaj Sep Szarzynski

God 7 Eternal 7 True 6 Sonnet 6 I Love You 6 Heart 6 Song 6 Love 6 Shadow 5 Night 5


Mikolaj Sep Szarzynski Quotes

Read All Quotes


Comments about Mikolaj Sep Szarzynski

Stanleysbill: late renaissance/early baroque tones with mikołaj sęp szarzyński (c. 1550-c. 1581): peace - is happiness, but earth's condition is struggle. the stern hetman of darkness and the world's sweet vanities are tireless as they persevere for our corruption. (trans. b. carpenter)
Read All Comments


Write your comment about Mikolaj Sep Szarzynski


Poem of the day

Edgar Albert Guest Poem
The Killing Place
 by Edgar Albert Guest

We're hiking along at a two-forty pace
We 're making life seem like a man-killing race,
With our nerves all on edge and our jaws firmly set
We go rushing along; with our brows lined with sweat
And our cheeks pale and drawn every minute we dash,
And the goal that we 're after is merely more cash.

We 're out for the money, the greenbacks and gold,
...

Read complete poem

Popular Poets