Saint Genevieve and fauns. Marmur [The Marble] by Jan Kasprowicz a poem about the permanence of truths and human nature

Abstract

This work explores an analysis and interpretation of the prose poem Marmur [Marble] by Jan Kasprowicz, from the volume O bohaterskim koniu i walącym się domu [On the brave horse and the crumbling house] (1906). The analysis focuses on the experiences of the main character (who is alsothe narrator) who first experiences a chance meeting with a pensioner, a supporter of social harmony, and then has a vision of fauns playing around the figure of St Genevieve. The article proposes two interpretations. First: man, irrespective of his views, usually surrenders to his inbred nature, biology, which is represented by the playing fauns. The second interpretation indicates the fauns’ behaviour as a separate solution that invades between the conservative attitudes of the pensioner and the support of the main character for social transformations. It represents an affirmation of a full and joyful life as well as acceptance of variability as a permanent component of history and human fate.