Skamander

Skamander, group of young Polish poets who were united in their desire to forge a new poetic language that would accurately reflect the experience of modern life. Founded in Warsaw about 1918, the Skamander group took its name, and the name of its monthly publication, from a river of ancient Troy. The group was founded by Julian Tuwim and other poets. Tuwim, a lyrical poet of emotional power and linguistic sensitivity, is best remembered for the collections Czyhanie na Boga (1918; “Lying in Wait for God”) and Biblia cygańska (1933; “The Gypsy Bible”) and for the long poem Kwiaty polskie (1949; “Polish Flowers”). Also associated with the group were Kazimierz Wierzyński, Jan Lechoń (pseudonym of Leszek Serafinowicz), and Antoni Słonimski.

Among sympathizers with Skamander were Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, who had a gift for expressing emotion, and Władysław Broniewski, a powerful lyrical poet who used traditional metres and forms to express concern with current social and ideological problems. A sympathizer of great importance was Bolesław Leśmian, considered the outstanding 20th-century Polish lyrical poet. His symbolic Expressionist poetry—collected in Łąka (1920; “The Meadow”), Napój cienisty (1936; “The Shadowy Drink”), and Dziejba leśna (1938; “Woodland Tale”)—is remarkable for the inventiveness of its vocabulary, its sensuous imagery, and philosophic content.