Abstract
The present article discusses the literary, linguistic, cultural, and spiritual qualities of unknown or forgotten monuments of ancient Polish literature. It also constitutes an attempt to prove the universalism of the art of the word. The analysis of messages of meditative and mystical literature of the 17th and 18th centuries provides a basis for this study. Most of the quoted records remain anonymous. However, it can be said with certainty that their authors were both women and men. It is worth noting that the quoted texts from meditative and mystical literature were composed in different spiritual traditions, including both the Carmelite and Benedictine spirituality. In particular, the author's research interests focused on how the writers of ancient mystical and meditative literature presented the art of love, both in terms of spiritual love (the relationship between God and man) and universal love that involves every dimension of the world we live in (the relationship between men themselves and between man and the world). A historical and literary analysis, which seems an indispensable tool for research on ancient Polish literature, has been applied to the study. The history of spirituality and old culture serves as a background for literary reflections. The literary and artistic quality of the quoted texts can be detected in numerous cultural references, literary references, a rich diversity of symbolism (the symbolism of the heart, symbolic images presenting intimacy between two people in love), diverse forms of expression (a dialogic structure of texts, an intimate inner monologue), an artistic depiction (the role of imagination). The conducted analysis has allowed the author to demonstrate the universality and timelessness of ideological and cultural messages of Polish mystical and meditative literature. Furthermore, it has been proven that the art of the word presented in the records is rooted neither in one national tradition nor in one language nor one culture. Although the texts date back to a remote period, they still present the universal beauty of the art of thought and the art of the word.
Highlights
The present article discusses the literary, linguistic, cultural, and spiritual qualities of unknown or forgotten monuments of ancient Polish literature
Let us start with the art of meditation, understood by many as a special kind of prayer because it engages the entire personality of men in their spiritual, rational, volitional, emotional and sensual dimensions [43, 41]
It is a prayer that leads to a closer union with God, awareness of his presence, and reality, which becomes the realization of a higher level of meditation, which is contemplation
Summary
Christian meditative prayer (sometimes called mental or inner prayer) has its centuries-long history. John of Damascus (7th/8th century), on the other hand, they remain universal in their basic form, and valid to this day They include statements that describe prayer as elation, the act of raising one’s mind to God, raising one’s heart to God, speech directed towards the person of God, conversation, dialogue with God, playing with the beloved (God), mystical intimacy, engaged mutual involvement, a conversation full of mutual love. The coming of God seems to require prior preparation of the heart because – like the mystical Bridegroom – he wants to speak not to the ear and not through the ears, but to the heart and soul of his chosen one Each of the groups of linguistic associations mentioned so far subsequently becomes the basis for the activation of imagination, leading to the phenomenon referred to in contemporary literary and cultural studies as visualization [37, 42] achieved in the text and through a literary text, in this case, ancient records of a meditative nature
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