Jerzy Harasymowicz - A NIGHT IN MARCH

Moon is rushing in ash trees

I'll throw him some golden straw

Moon is rushing in ash trees

I'll brush him really well

Moon is rushing in ash trees

I'll give him an old mantle

Moon is rushing in ash trees

I really love you, my Moon

Moon is rushing in ash trees

I'll drive him to my backyard

Translated by W.F.

Jerzy Harasymowicz (pron. Yezhy Harasimoveech) (1933-1999)

A  poet of the “Generation ‘56”, but very different from Zbigniew Herbert. The subject of poems by Harasymowicz is the cultural landscape of the countryside of South-Eastern Poland, around Cracow, his hometown. This is an area where two cultures meet: Polish Roman Catholic and Ukrainian Greek Orthodox. But it is not theology or philosophy that Harasynowicz is interested in. What arrests his attention is an Ukrainian church seen from afar in a mountain valley, or a dialect spoken by villagers. He uses different dialects to give atmosphere to his poems, in fact some of the poems are written partly in Polish and partly in Ukrainian. He must have been a keen hiker, his poems are full of images from the mountain trail. Many of his poems are like haiku – very short, like quick glances at nature. When he died his ashes were dispersed over the mountains.

In the 1970-ties he was extremely popular, possibly the most widely read poet at that time. He was especially popular among hikers, many a campfire song was written to his lyrics. His popularity fell rapidly after 1980, when he publicly declared his support for general Jaruzelski and his martial law. Now he is slowly regaining popularity among younger generation, for whom the martial law is a problem of a bygone era.