„Chrystus jest Aqua” – metafory chrystologiczne w poezji Symeona z Połocka

Metaphor is universally manifest in every language past and present and conspicuously embedded in the system of human cognition. We can assert that it plays the central role in the process of exploration and familiarization of the world. As such, metaphor is also one of the most interesting and complex means of poetic expression. Metaphor confronts concepts and objects belonging to different orders to bring a complex reality to the human dimensions, filtering and conditioning the world to his or her mindset and mental capacities. As a tool of exploration and habituation of the world metaphor is deeply rooted in human imagination and reflects the values of a community. It transforms incomprehensible ideas – including scientific or metaphysical abstracts but also such concepts as time or love – into familiar shapes and formulas. This paper presents and reviews the process of metaphorization of Christ in the poetry of Symeon of Polotsk. That Polish-Russian poet took profusely from the riches of the Baroque to create such masterpieces as poems Chrystus Aqua, Kamień, Chleb, Kwiat, Dweri, Król, Żywot, Męka, Śmierć – to name only those discussed in this paper. The poems selected by the author form a particularly interesting continuum of visions entirely built around metaphors which constitute and organize poetic expressions.