"Nieco akademicki abecedariusz". "Skarga umierającego" inaczej

Abstract

The aim of writing this article was to show an alternative opinion on repetitions in the polish medieval abecedary poem - Skarga umierającego (The Complaint of the Moribund). The only scholars’ proposition of explaining the presence of repetitions in strophes M and N was calling them clerical errors. In the author’s opinion they reveal too much regularity to be a sort of unconscious mistakes. The research make clear that the repetitions seem to be planned. The proportion between the count of non-repeated and repeated syllables in the strophes equals the ancient ‘golden cut’. The paper establishes the arrangement of repetitions in the whole poem and separates two parts of the text, one with composition based on the number 3 and the other based on the number 2. The essay proves that Skarga umierającego is an oral style poem and repetitions are characteristic of this kind of literature. The article shows that the strophes with repetitions are the line of symmetry in the role plan and the alliteration composition. They are also a part of an interesting and original composition frame. These studies demonstrate Skarga... ‘s author’s amazing artistic consciousness. The research paper presents an interpretation of the numbers which occurred in his studies. In this theory the form of the poem refers to the history of Judas’ treason and is the criticism of greed and materialism. The essay explains the mysterious absence of the S strophe, it could be planned by the writer of Skarga umierającego to be some kind of a good omen, ‘breaking’ the satanic Number of the Beast, not letting the Hell own the Moribund’s soul. The article also presents examples of works of art, in which the composition is based on a similar number proportions as the poem.