THE LITHUANIAN UNION 119Modrzewski, Ilowski, Goslicki, Rej, Orzechowski, Zaborowski, Wapowski,
Gornicki, Copernicus, Kochanowski, Zamoyski.
The greatest name undoubtedly belongs to Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543).
Born in Thorn, in Royal Prussia, he spent the greater part of his career as Canon
of the Warmian Chapter at Frauenberg. His mind was universal in the most
complete and literal sense. His discovery, of the earth's motion round the sun,
caused the most fundamental revolution possible in prevailing concepts of the
human predicament.^8
After Copernicus, Jan Kochanowski (1530-84) holds pride of place. As
founder of Polish vernacular poetry, he showed the Poles the beauty of their lan-
guage. Until at the end of his life he was smitten by personal tragedy, his poems
radiate that same joy and freshness which typify his peers - Ronsard and Du
Bellay in France, Petrarch in Italy, Spenser in England - and that childlike sense
of seeing the beauties of nature and of Man as no one had seen them before. From
twenty thousand verses, one is sometimes quoted as his 'Renaissance Manifesto':
Czego Chcesz od nas Panie, za twe hojne dary?
czego za dobrodziejstwa, ktorych nie masz miary?
Kosciol Cie nie ogarnie, wsze.dy pelno Ciebie,
I w otchlaniach, i w morzu, na ziemi, na niebie,
Tys Pan wszytkiego swiata, Tys niebo zbudowal
I zlotymi gwiazdami slicznie uhaftowal
Tys fundament zalozyl nieobeszlej ziemi
I przykryles jej nagosc zioly rozlicznemi.
Za Twoim rozkazaniem w brzegach morze stoi
A zamierzonych granic przeskoczyc sie boi.
Tobie kwoli rozliczne kwiatki Wiosna rodzi
Tobie kwoli w klosianym wiencu lato chodzi.
Wino Jesien i jablka rozmaite dawa;
Potem do gotowego gnusna Zima wstawa.
Chowaj nas, poki raczysz na tej niskiej ziemi,
Jedno zawzdy niech bedziem pod skrzydlami twemi.*
Last of the Renaissance giants was Jan Zamoyski (1542-1605). The leading
politician of his day, he still found time to reconstruct his native Zamosc as a
model city of the age. Its physical plan was conceived on the principles of
Ciceronian harmony - with the palace, the ratusz, and the collegiate church,
* What wilt thou from us, O Lord, for Thy generous gifts ?/What for Thy blessings which know
no bounds ?/The Church will not contain Thee; everywhere is full of Thee/In the pit of Hell,
in the sea, the earth, the sky/... Thou art Lord of all the world; thou didst build Heaven/And
embroider it prettily with golden stars./Thou didst lay the foundation of the unbounded
earth/By thy command, the sea stands within its shores,/Fearful to leap beyond its measured
limits./... For Thee, Spring brings forth various flowers;/For Thee, Summer walks out in a
garland of corn;/Autumn gives Wine, and numerous fruits;/Then idle Winter rises for a ready
meal./Keep us, as Thou deignest, on the earth below/But let us ever stay beneath Thy wings.'^9