Sapphic stanza in Polish poetry

The Sapphic stanza is the only stanzaic form adapted from Greek and Latin poetry to be used widely in Polish literature. It was introduced during the Renaissance, and since has been used frequently by many prominent poets. The importance of the Sapphic stanza for Polish literature lies not only in its frequent use, but also in the fact that it formed the basis of many new strophes, built up of hendecasyllables (11-syllable lines) and pentasyllables (5-sylllable lines).

The stanza comes from classical Greece, but it was the Romans, especially Horace, who provided the chief models for Renaissance poets. Horace's Sapphic stanza comprised three "lesser sapphics" and an "adonic":

In Polish there was no quantitative verse, as phonemic quantity itself was extinct. Nor was there accentual-syllabic versification, save some attempts by Jan Kochanowski. But Polish syllabic lines were available. A syllabic hendecasyllable 11(5+6) took the place of the quantitative lesser sapphic; likewise with the adonic.

The hendecasyllable (with caesura after the fifth syllable) is very common in Polish poetry, and the pentasyllable is so typical for Polish verse that Karol Wiktor Zawodziński gave it the name of polonik. Pentasyllables occur in Polish poetry either in a long series of corresponding lines, or in combination with other metrical lines. They can also form a part-line within the metrical patterns of longer lines, such as: 8(5+3), 9(5+4), 10(5+5), 11(5+6), 12(5+7), 12(7+5), 13(8+5), and even 15(5+5+5) and 20(5+5+5+5).

The Renaissance was the epoch when Polish literature became a great one. Polish poets of the time were well educated, mainly in Italy, knew Latin and sometimes Greek, and worked hard on building a new Polish literature. Many authors wrote in Latin, while some tried to create a modern Polish literary language. As in other European literatures, Polish poets often looked to Greek and Roman literature as a model. Jan Kochanowski, the most prominent of a family of poets, wrote lyrical poems, often in imitation of Horace.

The classic Polish Sapphic stanza was thus 11(5+6) / 11(5+6) / 11(5+6) / 5, typically rhymed a a b b. Jan Kochanowski used this Sapphic stanza several times in his Cantos, Laments, and Psalms. An excellent example is Lament XVI.

Nieszczęściu kwoli a swojej żałości,
Która mię prawie przejmuje do kości,
Lutnią i wdzięczny rym porzucić muszę,
Ledwe nie duszę.

Since my misfortunes and my daily sorrow
Pervade my body, pricking to the marrow,
My lute lies silent, my fair rhymes forsaken—
My soul, too, shaken.

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