and what
made
him smile
DARIUSZ DYBEK
(Wroclaw)
The word Sarmatian has been used here in twomeanings - onefor a group an one individual. We speakhere ofPolish gentry from XVII century. In looking
for their roots,members of thisgroupmostfrequently quoted the legendarySar matian nation that,accordingly to tradition, centuries ago lived onthe Volga ri ver area andduring hiswanderingarrived to Polandover Vistulariver. The idea
of such rootsofPolishnation (and especially of itsnoble part -the gentry) emer ged some time in XIVcentury,but the statusofofficial theory it obtainedduring Renaissance. Grounding of thistheory wasmainly based on: Sarmatiae Europe- ae descriptio by Aleksander Gwagnin,(...) Chronicles of Poland, Lithuania and all Russiaby Maciej Stryjkowski andAnnales, sive de origine et rebus gestis Polonorum et Lithuanorum, libri octo by Stanisław Sarnicki. For the XVII
century’s gentry,the identification withSarmatians was something obvious and
this word started to mean old-Polish character.
This same we can say ofWacław Potocki. He is atypical representative of
theseold-Polish characters and his writing creativityis asource for analyzing of
the Sarmatian’s comic. Potocki is today one ofmost highlyrated authors from Polish baroque era, and he isreckoned astypical (though not without some share of individualism) gentleman ofSarmatian’s credo. He reached thispositiononly during the last century. In preceding time period his big - hundredths of
thousands oflines-writer’s heritage, wasonly known insmall fraction as this
either remained in handwriting, or it was erroneously attribution to other aut
hors. By theway, hiscontemporaries issued probablyonly one (andnot highly praised, too) work-Poczet herbów szlachty Korony Polskiej i Wielkiego Księ
Stylistyka X
stwa Litewskiego (The catalog of coats of arms of the noble in Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania} printed in 1697 in Cracow.
Thiscatalogue has not presentedin full the capabilities ofthe author. There
were two reasons: first - this work does notbelongto his best achievements, se cond -before going to printers, probablypressed by censor, Potocki “edited” the work, removing large part of the text (about16% in allfromalmost 29 thousands of verses). This part is known as Odjemek od Herbów szlacheckich (The ex tract}.Literature historiansfound that between these reasons were also political deliberations. The catalog wasantiaristocratic and pro-royal in tone. Author has removed these partsthat weakened this tone (Kuchowicz 1957). Mostly still the
poet softened the obscenity and excluded all frivolities and coarse texts. He
confirmed this move, writing in the excluded part: “J have excluded jokes from serious problems
As the ashes from rye, to unconnected pages”1
1 All citationsfrom“The extract” are quoted from: W. Potocki, Odjemek od Herbów szlacheckich Z rękopisów:BibliotekiKórnickiej, Biblioteki Poznańskiego Towarzystwa PrzyjaciółNauk, Biblioteki Narodowej odczytali,wstępem i komentarzamiopatrzyli M.Lukasiewiczi Z. Pentek, Poznań 1997. Allcitations fromThe catalog areguotedfrom: W.Potocki, Poczet herbów szlachty KoronyPolskiej i Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego, Kraków 1696.
It’snecessaryto add, that he didn’t madeit consequently, and this caused very
critical remarks from moralistically thinking historiansof literature and these re
markswere directed against allthe work. This lackof systematic approach is a reason for relating to both works in any description of comical sense that is
connected with his description of heraldry symbols.
Wehave marked previously connections betweenobscenity and comicality. It would be, however, too narrow a view to limit the genesis in The catalog toob
scenities. In ouropinion the theory best explainingthecharacterof comicalityin
catalog, is the theory of deviation from standards (fromstandards of decency,
too). Wecan takethis theory asa mainonein comparison toothers, like: negati
ves, degradation, contradictions (Dziemidok 1967: 15). It’s characteristic that betweencomicality theorists,assuming that main part ofthis aspectdepends on
“deviationfromstandard” is between others Jan Stanislaw Bystroń in his Dzieje obyczajów w dawnej Polsce, wiek XVI-XVIII (History of customs in ancient Po land of XVI-XVILL age} illustrated his own findings just with fragments of
The theoryquotedabove is best related to satirical texts.It is important to note
that in Potocki’s works wehave two sorts of comicalityi. e. satirical and humo
rous. The first one is critical against reality andrather aggressive. He is negative
lyunderlining all, that accordingto author’sviews should bethrownaway (Gu- towski 1973: 264). Potocki is reckoned as moralist, continuously trying to teach othersof decency, sometimes even overdoing it, beingmost critical against all people, especially the Polish gentry. Some signs of degeneration of this social
strata has been shown also in catalog, partially in texts thatcontain the word
“joke”. Such parts there are 14 (5 of them inThe catalog). They mainlycontain
simple-though notaggressive-jokes,thoughin a printedbooktwo works arede
cidedly aggressive.First oneof them — headedJoke to this one (i. e.tothepriest) the joke is definitely anticlerical. The main faultof this priest (whose heraldic symbol wasa fork) is he doesn’t care of his“sheep” and grabsinstead everything
around,pressing them to tears (Cat. 321). The next work, named The joke to no blesisaddressedtoone named Achingier (in his coat ofarms there is anutcrac keranimal) and containsasarcastic remark to this symbol, that“histail is very short” - this means asa metaphorical picture of longevity of one’s ancestry - it suggests thatthenobilityhas been obtained(possibly bought!) not so long ago.
Such anew-born nobility was in author’s eyes, discrediting. Such view istypical
for Sarmatians mentality - very conservative one.
“In The catalog (...) wecanfind moreevidences that the problem ofnobility,ofinfiltration of the noble state bylow grade peoplewasone ofPotocki’s nightmares. His hate, he expressed against fresh nobles- bourgeoisandforeigners was expressedin words that mostly arenon printable. He even thought (an said toit) that differences between gentlemen and“lowborn” is obvious even in their external appearance”(Gruchala 1992: LXIII).
Both of examples above have been chosen purposefully. Author’s ironywas
frequently directed against these“fresh nobles” and the clergy living in not de
cent style. The main reasonofthis choice is a fact that the sense of irony isbased
on the symbolsincoat of arms, andthis relates toall works, bothin aThe cata log and inThe extract.The symbol or words of deviceare for theauthoragood
basis for the world, he builds. This fact, that we have herenumerousvariations on thetheme ofheraldic symbols, caused some monotony, that is unavoidable
when one reads so largea work without pause. It’spossiblethat author didn’t hi mself plansucha style of reading.Description ofheraldic symbols gave only the
pretexts to sad,thoughcomical, opinions. Theywere based on certainty and fa
ithof author, that virtues traditionally connectedwith knighthood are falling be
low reasonable levelwhatitself causes the loss ofterritory of thecountry, grab bed by Poland’sneighbours. No wonder thatbetweenderogatory types, oneof
Stylistyka X
main ones is so called “house-bound”man, beingatypicalsymbolof convenien
tly living country gentleman. Such a man has gonefar away fromstandardsput by fighting,brave knights from times passed long ago. The mythof gentle ance storsis very frequently used by theauthor. Here, author followed the Cicero in
his: “The orator’s aim is to cause listeners to smile (...) as the joke makes
enemy’s life difficult, caused him to get afraid, weakenshim” (De oratore, II 58), so author tried here touse comicality asaformof persuasion.His method of humiliating theenemy is demonstrated against the Jelita (Guts) gentleman, say ing that he has “all hisguts in hisass”,hecan only “sit and pierce his seat with gut’s gases” (Ext. 93). The next oneNamiot - with tent symbol receivedagood advicetomake anightjar fromhis helmet(Ext. 106). Forthe Korwin (Corvus — the crow) that used the symbol of black crow, author suggests that the owner should exchangethis Noah’s messenger and replace itwith ordinary hen. Ifone
remembers that dignity and honour werecornerstones of nobility, onecanappre
ciatethe force with which author assaults hisvictims,tryingto made themridi culous and to press them to return to old style ofascetic fighter.
It’s one of permanent features in such a literaturethat political and economi
cal status ofthe country is connected with levelof moralityof his people. This
level is usually criticized as a reason of bad relationsin thecountry. Potocki here is quite similar to other Polishwriters. Nowonder that hederogated all devia
tions from accepted decency. There was the avarice, in comparison with Sarma tianaccepted “spend your allpossessions but showthe style” (a bit like Indian
potlach).More frequently author criticized alcoholism.We feel that knownopi nions about the affinity to alcohol in baroqueare exaggerated(and some take here also thebeer, thatin Poland wasn’t an alcohol,rather a basic drink (Kucho-
wicz 1975: 61) butit’sfutile to deny that between Polish gentry the strong head (alcohol-resistant) was highly appreciated. The table sessions were one ofbasic dutiesand forms of social activity.The endof sucha sessionswasrathermunda ne and inaesthetic.
“Most ofparticipantslied flat under tables, those remainingmade a lot of loud cries, brokeglas ses, dumped candles,used swordsto beat servants, dueled, cutnoses, ears - even killed compa nions” (Kuchowicz 1975: 94).
For Potocki oneof reasons toassault such people,come from economics.The
costsof Hungarian wine caused many tooverspend their money, and allthis en ded in a loss ofposition. Author warned a gentlemanLeliwa(the half moonand
star) that when he will drink-over everything, his moon will risenomore (Cat.
65). He insisted that fully drunk gentleman hasnothing in common with Sarma
man thatused Suche komnaty (Dry rooms') symbolas whenhe got drunk, not
hing is dry around, everything coveredby vomit, and a head full of mud (Cat.
560). Between over 10 texts aboutalcohol only 2-3 are humorous without humi
liation. An example is the Korwin, where Potocki makes his name as coming fromheart (lat. cor) andwineso - heart full of wine. Similarlyit’s with
Biber-sztein -authorsuggests,the owner of thename shouldrather choose Weinsztein. Mostsimple is here the genesis of the symbolDoliwa (in Polish this means - re fill) -three roses: whenthe owner died, roses have fallen, so Potocki prays to Lord to givethediedgentleman a full lot of wine. By theway, if someone didn’t
drink at all, it was, in author’s opinion, nothing better.
There is one more areathat was widelyandstrictly regulated — the erotism.In
Potocki’s works this theme is frequently used, mostlywith more orless obscene allusions. His rawhumour doesn’t mean acceptance for every possible sexual behaviour. Some subjects crossed permitted limits (mostly based religion but
also by healthreasons) especially between aristocracy. Sexual diseases caused
not only bad health but also unnatural biological behaviour or degeneration
-evenin all members offamilies (Kuchowicz 1992: 122). Such aproblem one co uld find alsoina family of Sobieski- heirsofso highly praisedbyauthor,Polish kingJohannesIII. Inthe catalog suchpersonswere described asvictims ofcourt smallpox. Court because for simple country gentleman, the court was aplace of everything wrongand abomination.Author stress that such victims have unplea
sant appearance,especially ruined complexion. Picking the gentlemanof Dria symbol, authorironically suggests that tothree stones (gems) inhiscoatofarms
headded a hundred new ones on his forehead and that henow “needsagem ex perton his ass”(Ext. 140).It’strue that author didn’texposetheethicalsidetho ugh one has to remember that in XVII century still it was requested from a war riorthat he should be ofnoble appearance (Ossowska 1986: 71).
There is another side of erotism that makes the author anger: Potocki was a
moralist, a defender of traditional style ofmatrimony,withthe husband a bit ol
der than awife.If there was too large distance of age between partners (old men
marrying girls or young men marryingold women) Potocki suggests that such partners wereboundwithmoney. E.g. young Pilawa (means wood-cutter) mar
riedold branchfor her golden wood powder(Ext.9). Theseopinions aredange
rously closeto bad-tasted but it’s only author’s anger. We takeasexemplumtwo works. First — Korwin married old woman because crows love old fallen victims (Cat. 148). The second remained in handwriting becauseof very sharp-drastic
sense. A young boy marriedvery old misswithPanna z trąbami (Young lady with tubes), that duringthedaybarks likebitchandduring the nightchanges to
Stylistyka X
uncontrollable pig (Ext. 43).Whatisstrange — in thesystem that requests there
spectfor olderpeople -there is a lotof worksthatshowtheseolder in deprecia
ting light. Not the advanced age is here a reason, butthe choiceof partner that
wasincompatiblewith standards, not only in age butin riches or socialstrata. Thehouse-boundman, drunkard, victim of court smallpox, incompatible mar
riages make main heroes of satirical works. The joke wasnot only forsmile. It was amethodof engagingpeople intomoral and social problems. To make such ones ridiculous, wasno obstacle against humor. Potocki repeatedAristotle’srule thatthedifference betweenan animal anda human is ability to smile. So he did
his best to supply opportunities for smile He knew thattheme should be well
known to reader, so a big part ofhumor he connected with family feasts.
In the timesofbaroque familiar poetry was already well foundedand was al
wayspresentduring newborn’s feasts, name-giving, weddingsand—of course — funerals (Sl^kowa 1991). The catalog contains also such poetry, though author does not necessarily keeps strict order in the type of work. If in the head of a poemthe themeisquoted,then it’s only a basis forwriting a work for entertain
ment. Of course, this does not works in the case of epitaphs. The traditionof jo
king epitaphs was thenwell known (Koehler 1998: 61) -authorused itin other works,but in The catalogallepitaphs are serious and grave enough. The name giving(christening of newborn) andwedding give opportunity to express humo rous approach. It’s “underground”meaning are often obscene, and these“family
life” poems frequently touch the sexual life. No doubt,this sort ofhumour was very popular between Sarmatians. Theyofficially often assaulted such side of life,buttheywere not asceticand such - no doubtinelegant -remarks were al ways welcome. Trying toentertain his readers, author concentrates onevents of
first night in wedding ceremony, and on passing by thenew-married bride from
the statusof girl to wife. He, of course, again alludes here the heraldic symbols.
Such obscene subjects aremore frequent inThe extractthanin The catalog. Po
tocki wasnopurist, anyway, but in official edition he flattenedtoo rough opi
nions. It’s, possibly, connected with the role of heraldic catalog generally, as
sucheditionshould beaddressed to girlwiththe crayfish (crab) in coat of arms. Author states that the girl does not behave as crab, she does notkeep her legs crossed but alsodoes not try to wound the finger (Ext. 53). A bit of roughness
one can find also in ajokeaddressed to gentleman with Wieniawasymbol(the
head of a bison).Authordescribes him as a “hornanimal, whosehornmore often
hangs down than stands up”(Ext. 32). It’s interesting to notethatespecially in erotic works, there areshades of Petrarca, whose poetry was not closeto old-Po
ofwomen - in Petrarcastyle - is placed in the beginningofthepoem, to belater
negated by roughstyle, elementsof sexuality (quite non-Platonic). Such “brea king” of rules ofPetrarca’s poetry appearsnot only in Sarmatianpart ofliteratu re, but it’sworth ofnote todemonstrate how strong wasthe influence ofSonnets to Lauraauthor on baroque poetry. Potocki uses it inthe poemaddressed to a lady with Przyjaciel {Friend)symbol (the heat pierced by arrow). Authorbegins
with descriptions from the cruelty of this beautiful girl, but ends with a promise: “J will put the blind bolt in the hole” (Ext. 49). Similarmethod of building of
text one can find in a work describing as a gentleman signedKorczak, puts his sadness on a lady signed Gwiazda {Star), telling,she must beCanicula(Sirius) as shemakesmen to burn in heat, makesthem being mad. The only healing he
finds in putting on his head ofa black hen dead (onecan expell the demon this
way) and he will then repay with a “cock that all the night signs and sits on eggs”. (Ext. 97). Examples quoted above are not typical formost erotic texts. Usually, obscene allusions were placed byauthor intexts in random style,when the text was addressed to girl,wifeor widow. There wasno critics againstwo
men(rather against not too eager husbands), but onlythe reasonfor healthy smi le. Wordsin jokesare a play - baroque remembers ofHippocrate’s smile thera
py. It’s to note that, when these “family life” obscene poems were in the lesser
degree based on thecontrasts between life and decency,the lastof poem’sgroup described hereis a typicalone. We say here of poemsaddressed to bald-headed
persons. The baldhead - lack of hairs- was for Potocki afeature thatmade all
the difference between bald one and others - somethingofan anomaly. Such motifs are sofrequent that onehas totakeconclusions that -first:in XVIIcentu
ry in Poland, there were more bald onesthanhairy ones, second: that thepolis hed baldhead becomes an obsessionfor the author. Seriously, he plays again and although jokes are sometimesaggressive, mostimportant is to enjoy the game. Onecan find this in a poem addressed to agentleman signed Prus(ina coat of
arms there was a hunter’s trap). Author says, there is quite a good reason for
such a symbol, as the owner can this wayto hunt andcatch flies that slide down
his head, to the thick beard, he owns (Cat. 354). Also ridiculous (though not especially pleasant)comment earned the gentleman signed Okno {Window) -re putedly when he stood in aopen window some by-passer begun to throwstones on his head, suspecting that the unlucky gentleman demonstrates in awindow his ass (Ext. 46). It’s not especially sublime,but typical asa Sarmatianstyleof culture was not veryrepresentative between members of this age’s elite. This way author can tell us so much ofthe life of average gentry’s member in
Stylistyka X
The comicality of Potocki’s catalog reflects medieval mentality of XVIIth
centurygentry. It’s a form ofcomicality that is engaged insocial problems, atta cking indecent social behaviour,criticizing everythingthat didn’t agree with tra ditionalvalues. Nonetheless(not with standing many opinionsagainst“overdo ing the enjoys of life”) one can findhere also texts containing pure humour and
very close tothe “full of niceties table” way of life ofPolish XVII century gen
try.
Literatura
B. Dziemidok, 1967, O komizmie, Warszawa.
J.S. Gruchała, 1992, Wstęp. — W. Potocki, Wiersze wybrane, opr. S. Grzeszczuk, Wrocław: BN I 19.
M. Gutowski: Komizm w polskiej sztuce gotyckiej, Warszawa 1973, s. 264.
K. Koehler, 1998, Nad "Nagrobkami” Wacława Potockiego. Kilka pytań do wyobraźni po etyckiej sarmackiego baroku.-Potocki (1621-1696)-Materiały z konferencji nauko wej w 300-lecie śmierci poety, Kraków, s. 61.
Z. Kuchowicz, 1957, Problematyka społeczna "Odjemka od herb ów szlacheckich” W. Poto
ckiego, “Prace Polonistyczne” S. XIII.
Z. Kuchowicz, 1975, Obyczaje staropolskie XV1I-XV11I wieku, Łódź. Z. Kuchowicz, 1992, Człowiek polskiego baroku, Łódź.
M. Ossowska, 1986 Ethos rycerski i jego odmiany, Warszawa 1986.
L. Ślękowa, 1991, Muza domowa. Okolicznościowa poezja rodzinna czasów renesansu i ba roku, Wrocław.
Co
śmieszyło Sarmatów
Artykuł traktuje o typie komizmu charakterystycznego dla kultury sarmackiej, czyli kultury średniozamożnej szlachty polskiej żyjącej w XVII w. Egzemplifikacje owego komizmu pochodzą z twórczości uznawanego za typowego Sarmatę, Wacława Po tockiego, a konkretnie z jedynego wydanego za życia pod jego nazwiskiem dzieła, tzn. z
Pocztu herbów szlachty Korony Polskiej i Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego (Kraków
1697) oraz z Odjemka od Herbów szlacheckich, na który złożyły się teksty usunięte
przez autora z oficjalnej edycji.
Obecność komizmu w obu zbiorach jest bardzo widoczna, a najlepiej go charak teryzuje teoria odchylenia od normy. Odnosi się ona zwłaszcza do tych tekstów, w których dominuje satyra skierowana przeciw wszelkim przejawom odchodzenia od tradycji. Stąd krytyka „domatorów", czyli szlachty unikającej służenia krajowi
mieczem, stąd ataki na „świeżo upieczoną” brać szlachecką na pijaków (ale też całkowitych abstynentów), w końcu - na rozpustników zapadłych na „dworską chorobę” i niedobrane (zwłaszcza wiekowo) pary małżeńskie. Erotyzm to zresztą podstawowe źródło komizmu w herbarzach Potockiego. Właśnie w tekstach obscenicznych pojawia się inny, nie wynikający już głównie z chęci moralizowania typ komizmu, tzn. komizm humorystyczny, dobroduszny. Tu chodzi o rozbawienie odbiorcy, o beztroski śmiech wywołany czytelnymi aluzjami do cielesności.
Inną grupą utworów mających za zadanie bawić są te, których bohaterem jest łysy (Potocki traktuje ową przypadłość jako anomalię). Żarty z pozbawionych włosów szlachciców nie są wysublimowane, lecz dotyczy to całej twórczości autora obu zbiorów, pełnej sarmackiej rubaszności. Za kolejną cechę wspólną dla zawierających pierwiastek komicznych wierszy z Pocztu i Odjemka uznać trzeba wreszcie umiejętne stosowanie gier słownych nawiązujących do wyglądu herbu lub do jego proklamy (np. nadużywającemu alkoholu przedstawicielowi rodu Biberszteinów radził Potocki zmianę nazwy na Weinsztein).
