«The passage of time and the difference» («Czasu odmiana i różność») by Simeon Poloсkij: paraphrase or series of original epigrams?

Authors

  • Uladzimir I. Charota Centre for Research of Belarusian Culture, Language and Literature, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 1 Surganava Street, 2 building, Minsk 220072, Belarus

Keywords:

literature of Belarus, Polish-language poetry, epigram, engraving

Abstract

The study examines the source of the poetic work «The passage of time and the difference» («Сzasu odmiana i różność»), written by Simeon Poloсkij in Polish during his Belarusian period. It has been established that the 48-line text is not a paraphrase of the emblematic cycle from M. Kochanowski’s collection of elegies «Rotulae to his sons» («Rotuły do synów swych»), but a cycle of nine original epigrams composed by the Belarusian poet of 17th century to nine engravings from the series «XV. Depiction of the passage of time, as well as the successive states, virtues and vices» («XV. Temporis vices, ac variorum per ipsum statuum, virtutum, vitiorumque repraesentatio»), published in the collection «A mirror of various speculative images» («Speculum diversarum imaginum speculativarum») (Antwerp, 1638).

Author Biography

  • Uladzimir I. Charota, Centre for Research of Belarusian Culture, Language and Literature, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 1 Surganava Street, 2 building, Minsk 220072, Belarus

    PhD (philology), docent; senior researcher at the department of Belarusian literature of the 20th and 21st centuries, Institute of Literary Studies named after Yanka Kupala

References

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Published

2026-09-08

Issue

No. 2 (2026): Journal of the Belarusian State University. Philology

Section

Literary Research

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How to Cite

[1]
Charota, U.I. 2026. «The passage of time and the difference» («Czasu odmiana i różność») by Simeon Poloсkij: paraphrase or series of original epigrams?. Journal of the Belarusian State University. Philology. 2 (Sep. 2026), 5–14. DOI:https://doi.org/10.33581/2521-6775-2026-2-%p.