„(...) so one should leave just like that”. The Symbolism of Death in the Artistic Poems of Bolesław Taborski

Abstract

The article focuses on the artistic poems of Bolesław Taborski, which prove that the poetic oeuvre of this Polish émigré writer is distinguished by his visual way of thinking, as defined by J.J Wunderburger. The main objective of the manuscript is to present the role which painterly and visual art play in Taborski’s lyrical works. The author of this article concentrates on the analysis of three poems in which the writer discusses the phenomenon of old age and death. The most significant points of reference are the selected works created by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Stanley Spencer and Tadeusz Kantor. The symbolic analysis of these artistic pieces is set in the context of the author’s existential and ontological reflections. In this way Bolesław Taborski tries to find the answer to the question of how to tame anxiety and fear of inevitable and mysterious phenomena such as death.