From manuscript to first printed edition. On the early variants of the poem “Ranny” by Tadeusz Różewicz

Abstract

Tadeusz Różewicz was a poet for whom works of literature, poetry in particular, were never finite entities. He often changed his poems in consecutive editions. This article discusses the poem Ranny, several versions of which have survived, and which was included in Różewicz’s first poetic collection entitled Niepokój (1947). The discussion applies to the initial four versions of the poem: its evolution starting with the manuscript kept in the archive of the writer’s brother (Stanisław Różewicz), through two typescripts kept in the Archive of the “Odrodzenie” journal, to the first printed edition from that journal. The changes introduced by the poet, who in his actions seems true to the principles of the avant-garde, striving to fulfil the principle proposed by Julian Przyboś, whom he considered a master: the least words, the most content.

Keywords

• tadeusz różewicz – poetry
• literary archive
• manuscripts
• odrodzenie weekly