Treny Jeremijasza w przekładzie Jacka Idziego Przybylskiego – terapia literacka i duchowa roku Pańskiego 1793

“TRENY JEREMIJASZA” TRANSLATED BY JACEK IDZI PRZYBYLSKI – THE LITERARY AND SPIRITUAL THERAPY OF THE YEAR 1793

The article is the first analysis of the poetic translation into Polish of the biblical Book of Elegies (Hebrew: Kinot, Greek: Threnoi, Latin: Lamentationes), made by Jacek Idzi Przybylski (1756-1819) on the basis of the Greek version (Septuagint) and published in print in 1793. The translator, according to tradition, recognizes the prophet Jeremiah as the author of the book, and translates the five following elegies with the use of various strophic systems in each part of the work. Comparative analysis demonstrates the characteristic features of the translation and the results achieved – high philological awareness of the author of the translation (expressed by referring to sources other than the Septuagint) and his striving for the semantic precision of Polish synonyms; the freedom of poetically expanding the text while skilfully maintaining the assumed formal discipline; richness of native lexicon and phraseology as well as avoiding foreign-language influences. The external circumstances of the translation were also discussed, and the translator’s remark on doing the work during a severe illness was positively verified on the basis of archival materials.