WHAT IS POLAND? (Poem)

Daniel Krman (1663-1740), a Slovak Lutheran pastor, writer and poet who chronicled his travels to neighbouring lands, cited this bit of verse about Poland:

"Clarum regnum Polonorum
est coelum nobilorum,
paradisus Judeorum,
purgatorium plebeiorum
et infernus rusticorum."

For the benefit of those who have forgotten their schoolday Latin:

"The glorious kingdom of the Poles
is a nobleman's heaven
a Jew's paradise
a plebeian's purgatory
and a peasant's hell."

A nice poem, Pol3.

You won't like this quote as much, however in context there's some sense in it. It's from the late Quentin Crisp, who between the 30s and the 50s lived with Poles:

It must have been with very easy-going Poles.


Unless they have KRUS.

This is very true. The economic situation of the peasants in Poland had been deteriorating ever since the times of Casmir the Great. There existed compex economic and political reasons for that.

Can you name his other works, Polonius? I am particularly interested if he travelled to Silesia, in his time still part of the Kingdom of Bohemia under Austrian rule since the Prussians conquered Silesia in 1741.

I think it sounds better iths way :

"The glorious kingdom of the Poles
is a nobleman's heaven
a Jew's hell
a plebeian's purgatory
and a peasant's paradise."

Yes, jon357, really a nice poem !!!

Yes. Though I prefer the more accurate translation rather than your made up version.

I see, but remakes and rewritings can also be masterpieces to be enjoyed very much, right ?


Strangley enough that this deterioration of the peasants and the influx of the Jews in Poland took place almost simultaneously at the times of Casmir the Great (Great ?).

Only if they actually are a masterpiece. That version just doesn't add anything or have any interesting qualities.


I think he did; he certainly travelled. There's an interesting biography of him though I no longer have a copy.

You are wrong here, unlike you, the polish peasant will find simething interesting there but you are not a polish peasant .

Or any other sort, thanks. Though you are trying to go off topic, wonder how familiar you are with Krman's writing. By the way, he wasn't a 'polish (sic) peasant' either.

What do you think about his other works?

Casmir III was gefinitely a 'great' king. In particular, his activity in making and codyfing the law was outstanding. Much of this laid foundations for law and justice (who knows, he might have even laid foundations for PiS (Law and Justice party) :-) for the coming centuries until the end of the First Republic in 1795.

I was a bit wrong in my assesment of the deteriration in economic state of the Polish peasant. This deterioration began much later in fact, but it is true that the last monarch of the Piast dynasty was called "king of peasants" (król chłopów) in the popular tradition.

Between 1663-1740 when Daniel Krman lived Poland could possibly be called "peasant's hell", though the further east their situation was worse.

Józef Magnuszewski and Jerzy Sliziński both wrote about him, however this predates the online world.

On one of his journeys he sailed the Danube and wrote about this.

Be careful though, there were two of them, father and son, both men of letters, both with a Poland connection.