Samuel Twardowski

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Samuel Twardowski (before 1600-1661) was a Polish poet, diarist, and essayist who gained popularity in 17th century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, called by his contemporaries 'Polish Virgil.'[1]

A member of Polish nobility (szlachta), born in Lutynia in Wielkopolska, educated in Jesuit school in Kalisz, he took part in the 1621 battle of Chocim. Twardowski was one of the poorer nobles and earned his living as a retainer at magnates' courts (Zbarascy, Wiśniowieccy, Leszczyńscy). During The Deluge, at first he supported the Swedes, but later joined the Polish king Jan Kazimierz Vasa.

While traveling as secretary of Krzysztof Zbaraski on a diplomatic mission to Ottoman Empire in 1622-1623, he wrote a diary of the journey in verse: Przewazna legacja J.O. Ksiazecia Krzysztofa Zbaraskiego (“The Important Mission of His Grace Duke Krzysztof Zbaraski”, published in 1633).

He also wrote about other historical events. His most famous and respected work was Wojna domowa z Kozaki i Tatary, Moskwa, potya Szwedami i z-Wegry (“A Civil War with the Cossacks and Tatars, Muscovy, and then with the Swedes and Hungarians, published in 1681 in Kalisz), an account of the Zaporozhian Cossacks' revolt, under the leadership of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, against Polish domination of the region in the mid-17th century. This Polish historical narrative poem in the tradition of classical and Renaissance models describes the Chmielnicki Uprising which shook the entire Commonwealth, and, in particular, details the 1649 siege of Zbaraż and the 1651 battle of Berestechko. The epic poem was considered an authoritative history of the period.[2]

His other historical works included the Książę Wiśniowiecki Janusz ("Prince Janusz Wiśniowiecki", published in 1648), poem Satyr na twarz Rzeczypospolitej ("Satire on the face of Rzeczpospolita", 1640), another epic poem Władysław IV ("Władysław IV Vasa", published in 1649) and Wojna domowa ("Civil war").

Twardowski also wrote Baroque pastoral romances using Spanish verse narratives such as Nadobna Paskwalina (“Fair Pasqualina”,published in 1655) and mythological themes, in Dafnis w drzewo bobkowe przemieniela sie (“Daphne Transformed into a Laurel Tree”, published in 1638).

4 of his poems were translated into English by Michael J. Mikoś and issued in Polish Baroque and Enlightenment Literature: An Anthology. Ed. Michael J. Mikoś. Columbus, Ohio/Bloomington, Indiana: Slavica Publishers. 1996.[3]