Why did Cyprian Norwid tear the memorial drawing from Egypt he had received from Juliusz Słowacki? On the Private Nature of Czarne kwiaty (Black Flowers)

  The article treats of the issues of privacy and informality in Cyprian Norwid’s Czarne kwiaty [Black Flowers]. The poet wrote about events from the lives of individuals whose status was public. He wrote, among others, about informal meetings, universalising their meaning. He published the piece in a monthly insert to Czas daily newspaper. A question arises whether Norwid had the right to unveil the privacy of these people. Did he ask them to let him exploit very private moments from their lives? A scene from the drama, where the narrator (the author of Czarne kwiaty) cuts a souvenir drawing from Juliusz Słowacki – he sends one half to Poland and keeps the other to himself – reveals the quintessence of the piece. By cutting the drawing from Egypt Norwid made it into two pieces; at the same time he destroyed a souvenir from Słowacki and, in a certain sense, those things that were the most private in relationships with particular people.