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Lausanne lyrics is a group of poems written by Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz between June 1839 and October 1840 in Lausanne, Switzerland. These poems belong to Mickiewicz's late literary work. They were published after his death and long neglected, considered inferior or at least insignificant in comparison to poet's other pieces of writing. Nowadays, they are considered a masterpiece of literature, although they are virtually unknown outside Poland.

Poems in the group
Most of the scholars who studied Lausanne lyrics agree that this title belongs to a group of six poems, namely: Spin love (Snuć miłość), Over water wide and clear (Nad wodą wielką i czystą), Oh, at parental home already (Ach, już i w rodzicielskim domu), Flee with soul onto a leafling (Uciec z duszą na listek), When here my corpse (Gdy tu mój trup), Shed were my tears pure (Polały się łzy me czyste). In manuscript, under each of them there was an author's note saying that they were written between 1839 and 1849 in Lausanne. However, often under the title of Lausanne lyrics more than six poems are being published. Usually added poems also belong to Mickiewicz's late literary work and in purport they resemble the basic six.

This confusion comes from the fact that there exists no Lausanne lyrics as such. It was a general agreement of scholars, editors and readers that poems loosely written on a piece of paper, unfinished and never mentioned by the author, much less intended to be published - that those poems should be grouped together and named.

The first grouping was called "broodings in Lausanne" and clearly indicated that criterion used was location, the place where the poems were written. Karol Sienkiewicz - author of this grouping - chose only four poems: Over water wide and clear, Oh, at parental home already, When here my corpse and Shed were tears pure. The were all written on one small piece of paper. There was also "Flee with soul onto a leafling" but being only two-verse it probably seemed too sketchy and marginal to be called "a brooding". Spin love was not included because it was not written on that piece of paper (it was in an album).

To the criterion of location and time - which are blended together in Mickiewicz's case because he was in Lausanne only once in his life - adhere modern scholars. They chose all and only the poems that were ended by Mickiewicz's note informing about the time and place of writing. This led to Flee with soul onto a leafling and Spin love being included.

However, this same name - "broodings in Lausanne"- leads to another tradition of understanding the title Lausanne lyrics. The criterion can be called "mood" or "purport" and would be respected by those who put emphasis on "broodings" in the first name given to the group. It allows such poems as Prodigal's lament (Żal rozrzutnika), Vision (Widzenie) or Veni creator spiritus to be included among Lausanne lyrics.

The first tradition is more justified because title Lausanne lyrics indicates clearly that Lausanne is the quality that distinguishes said lyrics from all other lyrics ever written. It also reduces the risk of subjectivity in choosing the poems - criterion of "mood" probably cannot be rationally applied.

Title Lausanne lyrics suggests that there are certain properties in the so-titled six poems that unite them and make them a cycle. But cycle is a conscious design of an author and whether here this is the case we cannot know. It is safer to talk about "group" rather than "cycle" with regard to Lausanne lyrics.

Poetics and content
Although each of the poems is an individual, independent entity with distinct features there are certain characteristics that prompted readers to see close relationship between them.

First of all, they seem to be only drafts of poems. There are many uncertainties concerning them. These are: lack of authorisation (we do not know whether Mickiewicz considered them ready, finished pieces; whether he wanted them ever to be printed or wrote them foremostly for himself); quality of handwriting (and the right to correct mistakes); choosing one version of the text and rejecting other versions; impairments of paper on which poems are written and unreadabilty of handwriting; two guesses at the reasons of abrupt ending and strange constructions in the text - one being the fact that the pomes were not finished nor brought to ultimate form; the second being it is a result of consciously applied literary technique called "poetics of fragment".

This rough character of the poems appaled first commentators. In XIXth century it seemed to be a proof that Lausanne lyrics are inferior to other Mickiewicz's works. The little commenatary they received they owed to renown of their author. It was only after World War II that this situation started to change. Julian Przyboś, Polish poet, wrote some essays on Lausanne lyrics in which he put very strong thesis: that these poems were not a sign of Mickiewicz's faltering poetic talent; indeed, they were poems that exceeded their time; that they portended poetics which were then (in 1950's) just beginning to take shape. He raised interest in Lausanne lyrics, their greatness was questioned never since.

Scholars, following Przyboś, began to look more closely at Lausanne lyrics and the result was that there apperaed almost as many interpretations as interpreters, having in common one thing: a conviction that what they have been reading and analysing is a masterpiece.

The fragmentariness of Lausanne lyrics is seen then as the way to express the depth of inner experience; the outcome of romantic philosophy (concerning the impossibility of knowing the world; our fragmentary knowledge of it; theme of mystery in Romanticism) or even a sign of fascination with things tiny, fragile, indistinguishable, intangible (which would make Mickiewicz almost a XXIst century poet).

Lausanne lyrics are often characterised as a "poetry of infinitive". This verb form is particularly frequent in his writing from Lausanne and helps Mickiewicz to achieve the impression that the time is absent in these poems. For Lausanne lyrics are also often characterised as "poetry of infinity". It is a poetry of a man who came to the point in his life from where he decided there is no going further. He looked forward to living not in earthly dimensions, not bound by space, time, limitations in cognition or thought. He longed for eternity, immortality. There is in Lausanne lyrics stillness of some sort and this stillness can be described as "endurance". It is not only achieved through frequent use of infinitives but also by parallelisms, repetitions and - in Over water wide and clear- the motif of reflections, of a mirror.

But symbolism of endurance is inseparable from symbolism of evanescence. It is real power of Lausanne lyrics that Mickiewicz did not oppose those two symbolisms. He used the archetypical symbol of evanescence, water, to show that what seems to be passing - is in fact the only thing that lasts; that infinity should be sought not in stillness but in movement ( Over water wide and clear).

Such contradictions can easily be explained by the fact that this poetry is as if suspended in between earth and heaven, closest probably to metaphysical poetry and leaning towards mystical one. But as much as Lausanne lyrics are poetry of otherworld, they are poetry of this world. They are often called "poetry of setttling" - of summing up earlier life and accepting it. It colours Lausanne lyrics with a bitter tone (see especially: Shed were my tears pure and Oh, at parental home already).

Reaching otherworld is not in Lausanne lyrics an escape from problems. There came first the purging experience of suffering, which was experiencing this world to the deepest, learning the truth about this life - and only then it is possible to move on to other state of existence.

This "purging experience" left its mark on poetic diction. Mickewicz writes Lausanne lyrics in a very plain style, he uses words sparingly. Thanks to that every word is exposed and independent in the structure of the poems. The single word loses its unequivocal character; its vividness and concretness. It makes Lausanne lyrics seem almost sterile and adds to the effect of otherworldliness. But it is the cost of making the single word as suggestive as possible, semantically most capacious. Its role is to speak to thought and feelings, not senses. It makes Mickiwicz close to symbolists and type of contemporary poetry represented by Polish poet Tadeusz Różewicz.

The abstract character of Lausanne lyrics serves well their universality. They are ultimately the poetry that - although strongly anchored in individual experience - reaches whole mankind and tries to answer universal questions. This universality revolves around two extremities: macrocosm (universe-level) and microcosm (soul-level). Very interesting representative of the latter in Lausanne lyrics is Flee with soul onto a leafling, the smallest poem in the group (it consists of two verses). It is about seeking security ("home and nest") and comfort of the soul in the small-sized reality (the size of leaves and butterflies). Flee with soul onto a leafling is also a great example of poetics of a fragment. The second verse ends with a hyphen suggesting that the poem breaks off. However, what is after the hyphen - all infinity - in this way also belongs to the poem.

While reading Lausanne lyrics one has to change viewpoints and adjust focus very often. The monumentality of Over water vast and clear neighbours the tininess of Flee with soul onto a leafling; the impersonal universality of Spin love is just page away from very personal confessions like When here my corpse and Shed were my tears pure.

Lausanne lyrics are an "expression of life".

Reception and continuation
Lausanne lyrics were inspiration for generations of Polish poets. Among them were Czesław Miłosz (poems: Clouds, In my fatherland, A plain, Song on the end of the world, Reflections, Notebook: Bon by Lake Leman), Wisława Szymborska (Clouds), Julian Przyboś (A star, Letter from Switzerland),Tadeusz Różewicz (Lausanne lyrics), Zbigniew Herbert (Silk of a soul) and many others. They referred to Lausanne lyrics either directly or by adopting Mickiewicz's style or poetics.