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Notes
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English translation of the title: Poetic Memoir
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Dedication: Pamięci matki, pamięci żony [In memory of my mother, in memory of my wife]
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The collection is divided into 7 numbered parts entitled - (I) Poemat 'Tamta Ziemia' [Narrative poem 'That Other Land'], (II) Wiersze z różnych lat, chwil i miejsc [Poems from various years, places and moments], (III) Ty [You], (IV) Bajki i wierszyki dla Jacka i Hani [Fairytales and little poems for Jacek and Hania], (V) Poematy [Narrative poems], (VI) Fraszki i utwory satyryczne [Epigrams and satires] and (VII) Różne [Various].
Contents
- Tamta Ziemia, sequence poetry (p. 11-128)
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O lwowskim bałakui"Lwowski bałaku! Śliszna mowo!",
single work
poetry
(p. 11-13)An ode to bałak, the dialect of Polish spoken in the city of Lvov and the poet's mother tongue. The poem is largely written in bałak.
- Suita podkarpackai"Na Górce, poza Drohobyczem,", single work poetry (p. 14-17)
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Pieśń o Borysławiu i o borysławskich łebakachi"...Kiedy tęsknota mnie otoczy",
single work
poetry
(p. 18-25)The poem evokes memories of the industrial city of Borysław (formerly Polish, now Борислав in the Ukraine) and its 'łebaki', or oil thieves, viewed as emblematic of the place.
- Pieśń o miasteczku Jabłonowiei"Za wszystkie duże, mniejsze, małe", single work poetry (p. 26-29)
- Pieśń o jednej knajpiei"...A tera, bracie ci opowiem", single work poetry (p. 30-33)
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Niedokończona balladai"W dalekiej knajpie na przedmieściu",
single work
poetry
(p. 34-39)The poem depicts a pre-war gathering of anxious smugglers in a tavern near the Polish-Belarusian border. It ends with a lament for the loss of the poet's homeland, symbolised by the figures of the smugglers and the surrounding borderlands.
- Traktat o tęsknociei"Tęsknota", single work poetry (p. 40-44)
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Untitledi"W roku czterdziestym, w roku grozy,",
single work
poetry
(p. 45-47)The poem reflects on Polish poetry written in exile, especially by the Polish Jewish poet Julian Tuwim. It continues the theme of the previous poem in the sequence 'Tamta Ziemia', 'Trakat o tęsknocie' ('Treatise on Longing').
- Suita partyzanckai"Noc była wtedy i był księżyc", single work poetry (p. 48-53)
- O Wilnie i o Kaziukui"Gdy we śnie wzrok i słuch natężysz", single work poetry (p. 54-60)
- O Icku Spuchu i o Knoblochui"Ktoś, kto batiarskie typy kocha", single work poetry (p. 61-65)
- O Truskawcu i o Naftusii"Truskawiec jest z 'Naftusi' znany :", single work poetry satire (p. 66-71)
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O własnym poemaciei"Niejeden powie, że Tuwima",
single work
poetry
(p. 72-79)The poem reflects on the writing of the cycle of poems 'Tamta Ziemia', which takes inspiration from the narrative poetry of Polish Jewish poet Julian Tuwim. It then pays tribute to Chciuk's wife, who gave moral support to his writing, and mourns her recent death.
- Na nartach w Czarnohorzei"By dać zapomnieć nerwom, głowie", single work poetry (p. 80-82)
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O moim kochanym i śmiesznym Drohobyczui"Im starszy jestem i im dalej",
single work
poetry
(p. 83-90)The poem pays tribute to the poet's multi-ethnic home town of Drohobycz, lovingly yet satirically evoking its blend of beautiful architecture, mud, provincial boredom, and pervasive smell of oil (the town was famous for its oil refinery). It laments the loss of remembered figures including the writer Bruno Schulz and other Jewish victims of the Holocaust, and a Ukrainian Trotskyist friend who died at the hands of the NKVD [Narodny Kommissariat Vnutrennikh Del - Soviet secret police from 1934 to 1946]. Chciuk recalls another friend who loved Drohobycz 'in Ukrainian' while he loved it 'in Polish'.
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O Chciukachi"Chociaż nazwisko me końcówkę",
single work
poetry
(p. 91-121)The poem is an unfinished 'family saga' in the words of an appended note (122-123). It opens with a tribute to the poet's grandfather, who was a bargeman on the Wisła (Vistula) river, and evokes scenes from Chciuk's childhood with his parents, and his own and his brothers' experiences as partisans during WWII. Chciuk was still working on the poem when the book Pamiętnik poetycki went to press. The note explains that the poem aimed to 'show the whole tragic complexity of Polish fate and the rise of intellectuals of Polish peasant background', in other words, writers such as Chciuk himself.
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O Kochawinie i modlitwa do N.M.P. Kochawińskiej o pamięći"W pobliżu Stryja, w Kochawinie",
single work
poetry
(p. 124-127)The first part of the poem evokes scenes of pilgrimages to a revered icon of the Virgin Mary at a church in the (formerly Polish) village of Kochawina. The second part is presented as a prayer addressed to the Virgin Mary of the icon. The poet prays for a healing of the rift brought about by conflict between Poles and Ukrainians during the world wars.
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Zamiast przedmowyi"Mówią mi :",
single work
poetry
(p. 131)A defence of the poet's style, viewed as 'too simple' by some, and a quasi-preface to the collection Pamietnik poetycki.
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Emigrancii"Trochę dziwacy, zlekka kopnięci",
single work
poetry
(p. 132)The poem presents immigrants as tragicomic figures who 'still carry yesterday in their pockets'.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Evoking a Displaced Homeland : The ‘Poetic Memoir’ of Andrzej Chciuk
2017
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Transnational Literature , November vol. 10 no. 1 2017;'This article looks at some poems by Polish Australian writer Andrzej Chciuk (1920-1978). Chciuk migrated to Australia from France in 1951, having escaped Nazi-occupied Poland as a twenty-year-old in 1940. In Australia he worked as a schoolteacher in Melbourne while continuing to write poetry and fiction in Polish. His work was published in prestigious Polish emigré outlets like the Paris-based journal Kultura and in Australia with sponsorship from the Polish migrant community; to date no English translations of it have appeared. My article focuses on a sequence of poems in his 1961 Pamiętnik poetycki (Poetic Memoir) called ‘Tamta Ziemia’ (That Other Land), about the cities and towns of Chciuk’s childhood: Lwów, Borysław and his hometown of Drohobycz. When the author was growing up these towns were in eastern Poland; by the time of his writing, in the 1950s, however, they had become part of Soviet Ukraine, and were thus doubly removed from his life in Australia. He wrote as a displaced person whose childhood home had itself been displaced. Hence the powerful note of longing that pervades his ‘poetic memoir’. Through a reading of some passages in my English translation, I hope to convey something of Chciuk’s lively poetic voice, and to show that he deserves admission to discussions of twentieth-century transnational Australian literature.' (Publication abstract)
-
Evoking a Displaced Homeland : The ‘Poetic Memoir’ of Andrzej Chciuk
2017
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Transnational Literature , November vol. 10 no. 1 2017;'This article looks at some poems by Polish Australian writer Andrzej Chciuk (1920-1978). Chciuk migrated to Australia from France in 1951, having escaped Nazi-occupied Poland as a twenty-year-old in 1940. In Australia he worked as a schoolteacher in Melbourne while continuing to write poetry and fiction in Polish. His work was published in prestigious Polish emigré outlets like the Paris-based journal Kultura and in Australia with sponsorship from the Polish migrant community; to date no English translations of it have appeared. My article focuses on a sequence of poems in his 1961 Pamiętnik poetycki (Poetic Memoir) called ‘Tamta Ziemia’ (That Other Land), about the cities and towns of Chciuk’s childhood: Lwów, Borysław and his hometown of Drohobycz. When the author was growing up these towns were in eastern Poland; by the time of his writing, in the 1950s, however, they had become part of Soviet Ukraine, and were thus doubly removed from his life in Australia. He wrote as a displaced person whose childhood home had itself been displaced. Hence the powerful note of longing that pervades his ‘poetic memoir’. Through a reading of some passages in my English translation, I hope to convey something of Chciuk’s lively poetic voice, and to show that he deserves admission to discussions of twentieth-century transnational Australian literature.' (Publication abstract)
