Uczucia izolowane w kilku impresjach poetycko-muzycznych

The article is an attempt to analyze Adam Asnyk’s poem Enchanted Princess. The paper focuses on the musical adaptation of said work, the melody to which was composed by Mieczysław Karłowicz. Karłowicz’s interest in Asnyk’s poetry was probably spurred by Julia Wieleżyńska. In one of her letters she cites an anecdote confirming Asnyk’s terrible shyness towards women, as well as his inclination towards isolation and distancing himself (even from his closest friends and relations). Wieleżyńska has also mentioned his very particular taste in literature. The woman, portrayed by Asnyk, was an elusive being, unblemished by any physical contact. Both Asnyk and Karłowicz were partial to the solitary contemplation of nature, which might suggest a particular distrust of other people. The eponymous fairy-tale princess could be just a part of a specific, self-therapeutic writing technique (especially with regard to morbidly shy men who are emotionally dependent on their mothers, as was the case with Karłowicz).