Stare kobiety w wierszach (O książce Joanny Hobot-Marcinek Stara baba i Goethe. Doświadczenie i transgresja starości [Tadeusz Różewicz, Czesław Miłosz, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz] )

Old women in poemsThe article refers to Joanna Hobot-Marcinek’s monograph Crone and Goethe. The Experience and Transgression of Old Age (Tadeusz Różewicz, Czesław Miłosz, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz), Krakow, 2012. In her book, the author continues her research on the topos of old age in contemporary poetry. In the background, she refers to the tradition of this theme. The approaches of Różewicz and Miłosz are different, consistent with their overall philosophy and their poetic programs. Miłosz tries to approach old age by presenting images of old women. He uses, among others, the path indicated by Świrszczyńska.  Różewicz more often deconstructs old age, uses the poetics of the grotesque. Paradoxically, while achieved by different means, in both cases a trait of existential drama is present. The monograph also presents the younger generation of poets. The author looks at male and female poets, as the topos of old age is also gender sensitive. In addition to issues of poetics and literary tradition, an important element in Hobot–Marcinek’s considerations is the autobiographical nature of the examined poems.