An overview of neo-Latin epigrammatic poetry in Poland (and Russia)

Abstract

The following article provides an overview of Polish neo-Latin poetry with a full historical background provided by situating the literary practices of 16th C. Poland and exploring some of the principal theoretical and rhetorical approaches to this poetry. The article claims Polish letters to be central in Eastern Europe, and a decisive authority that helped shape the literary fields of lands such as Ruthenia (presently, Ukraine and Belarus) and Russia until the 18th C. By taking as example Maciej Sarbiewski’s epigrammatic production, I offer a glimpse into the theoretical works of Jesuit priest, Jacobus Pontanus, and of the foremost intellectual in Peter the Great’s court, Feofan Prokopóvitch.