Mikołaj Rej

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Poet and poet Mikołaj Rej

Mikołaj Rej (also Mikołaj Rey ; born February 4, 1505 in Żurawno near Halicz , † between September 8 and October 5, 1569 ) was an important Polish poet , poet and politician of the Renaissance of the 16th century .

Life

Rej was a son of Stanisław Rej and Barbara, nee Herburt. His father was illiterate and he himself spent his childhood fishing and hunting. His education was more than sketchy before his parents took him to a manor house to be taught good behavior. There he gradually found joy in reading and even learned Latin. However, he did not get as far as being able to write Latin, which is why he was always dependent on Polish and this is the simple reason why he is known as the "father of Polish literature". In the course of his life he amassed a considerable fortune and left a huge literary work.

He also founded the village of Rejowiec (now Rejowiec Fabryczny) near Chełm . Although he was initially an enemy of the church, he is open to the emerging Reformation and became a Calvinist himself in 1541 or 1548 . Rej is the first Polish poet to receive a substantial material reward for his poetry. King Sigismund I donated a village to him.

Rej shares his quest for the right life with many Renaissance writers. “Knowledge comes with experience,” he said. Traveling is good, but the main thing is a good woman, and life in the country is preferable to the hustle and bustle at court. Rej praises a life of pleasure (with moderation), domestic well-being, the beauties of nature and the joys of hunting and good food. Christian pious life does not require asceticism, but can be achieved through the golden mean of mastering ambition and exuberant passions. Public offices should be avoided, because who can z. B. Be a tax collector and stay a good person? Such offices always end in nepotism, because how can you keep intrusive relatives at bay? Only the call to military service and to the Reichstag should one obey and devote oneself to the tasks of the state with the seriousness of a priest who administers the sacrament . "

His style was not very disciplined and differentiated, but he had a great talent for realistic and humorous descriptions.

Works

  • Zwierciadło (The Mirror) (1567/1568)
  • Psałterz Dawidów - tłumaczenie prozą (David's Psalter) (1546)
  • Żywot Józefa (The Life of Joseph of the Jewish Family) (1545)
  • Kupiec (The Merchant) (1549)
  • Rzecz pospolita albo Sejm pospolity
  • Postilla (a large prose work, his exposition of the true, i.e. Protestant, faith. A praise of the simple trust in God) (1557)
  • Wizurek własny żywota człowieka poczciwego (The faithful image of the life of a righteous person - an instructive piece on the question: What should one do to live wisely, virtuously and happily ?! The protagonist finds happiness in marriage and a contemplative life the country.) (1588)
  • Zwierzyniec (1562)
  • Krótka rozprawa między trzema osobami: Panem, Wójtem i Plebanem (Short argument between a nobleman, Schulzen and a priest) (1543)

literature

  1. ^ Czesław Miłosz : History of Polish Literature. 1981, p. 59 ff.
  2. ^ Czesław Miłosz: History of Polish Literature. 1981, p. 61.

See also

personal data
SURNAME Rej, Mikołaj
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rey, Mikołaj
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish poet
DATE OF BIRTH February 4, 1505
PLACE OF BIRTH Żurawno
DATE OF DEATH September 1569 or October 1569