In 2025, our library has acquired another notable addition: an edition of Poezye (“Poetry”) by the Baroque poet Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski, known across Europe as the “Sarmatian Horace”, translated by Władysław Syrokomla. The volume was published in Vilnius in 1851.
Sarbiewski was a Polish Neo-Latin poet and literary theorist of the 17th century. He taught at the Jesuit colleges in Polotsk and Nesvizh, as well as at the Vilnius Jesuit Academy. His work forms a living bridge between the classical poetic tradition and the literature of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, combining formal precision, philosophical depth, and inner elegance. The poetry collection held in the Skaryna Library includes texts dedicated to the legendary Grand Hetman of Lithuania, Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, and his victory over the Ottomans at Khotyn in 1621, as well as to other notable figures of the Grand Duchy.
The Polish translation of Sarbiewski’s works by the renowned Belarusian-Polish writer Władysław Syrokomla is regarded as one of the most successful and reflects the revival of interest in Sarbiewski’s legacy in our region during the 19th century. The translator not only conveys the meaning but also lends the poems a Romantic tone, bringing them closer to the poetic style of his own time. In his preface, Syrokomla calls on translators to “respect the thought, the number of lines, and where possible even the expressions [of the original], but above all to preserve the soul of the work, and not to lose it in the least when rendering it into another language.”
This edition brings together two outstanding cultural figures closely connected with Belarus, from two different historical periods. For admirers of classical poetry and literary history, it is a true treasure.