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"The difference between camels and men; a camel can work a week and not drink; a man can drink a week and not work."
Julian Tuwim is a timeless poet whose poems, despite the passage of time, do not lose anything of their topicality. They can only gain a new charm and charm given to them by modern performances and interpretations.
Tuwim, sometimes anglicized as Tuvim, is a Hebrew language surname which comes from the Hebrew tovim,meaning "good".
A guick view on his life
Poet Julian Tuwim was born into a middle class Jewish family in Łódź, Poland, in 1894 and went on to become one of the major figures in Polish poetry. Living in an area of the Russian Partition, when the revolution started in 1905 the family were forced to move to Wrocław. Tuwim settled more into his academic pursuits and went to Warsaw to study Law between 1916 and 1918. When World War II broke out, Tuwim moved to Paris after the German occupation of Poland, then headed to South America and finally the United States. At the end of the war, Tuwim moved back to Poland. Despite winning the Lodz Literary Prize in 1948, he returned to a different world, under the control of Stalin’s reign as Soviet leader, and he did not write much during the remaining years of his life. Tuwim died of a heart attack in 1953 at the age of 59. He was buried in Warsaw at the Powązki Cemetery.
When press begins the battle-cry
That nation needs to unify
And for your country you must die…
Dear brainwashed friend, my neighbor dear
Brother from this, or other nation
Know that the cries of anger, fear,
Are nothing but manipulation
It's a very interesting thing, that Polish people mostly know him fro his poems for children. We learn them at school from a very young age, but little do we know that Julian Tuwim was also a "serious" poet, writing about the early world problems.
And the word was made flesh,
And it has dwelt among us,
I feed the starving body
With words as if they were fruit.
The Dancing Socrates
I roast in the sun, old wretch…
I lie, and yawn, I stretch.
Old am I, but full of pep:
When I take a slug from the cup
I sing.
My ancient bones bask in the sun's glow,
And my curly, wise, grey head.
In that wise head, like woods in spring
Hums and hums a wiser wine.
Eternal thoughts flow and flow,
Like time.
1. The little black boy, Bambo, 1923 or 1924, published 1935
2. The Turnip, 1938
3. The Locomotive, 1938
4. With pen and quill, 1951
5. The ABC's
6. Two Michael's dancing
7. Glasses
The controversial poem
This is the most widely known poem of Julian Tuwim and I think the first one children read at schools or kindergarden. By classifying it
as a story intended for children, we recognize its categorical distinctiveness and its associated consequences. A fairy tale or rhyme presented to a child have a much deeper influence on them than in the case of an adult. This text imposes a certain vision of the world, which is accepted with childlike trust devoid of criticism. Nowdays, a lot of people think that the poem is racist and keeping it in the canon of reading is consent to racism. "The whole show is imbued with such happy racism" - we may think it's just an innocent story about a black boy, but the epitets and adjectives used in there are very controversial today.
On African land lives Bambo and the Browns
His chocolate face shines even when he frowns.
As soon as the Sun appears on the horizon
His new book is what he’s keen on.
And when he comes back home from school
He plays tricks as he thinks it’s quite cool.
“Come drink some milk” – his mummy says.
But he climbing the tree prefers.
“Come take a bath” – his mummy replies.
But Bambo does not want his skin to turn white
But mummy loves her little boy
As he is good and full of joy.
What a pity that Bambo clever and funny
Is not here to make the weather warm and sunny.
Julian Tuwim's poem "The Locomotive" is one of the most famous pieces of children's poetry. It resembles a reporter's report from a railway station from which a powerful locomotive sets off. It is a combination of description, humor and fun with words. It is an expression of admiration for technological development. The noun "locomotive" is synonymous with progress, it describes the factor driving further development.
On a station is locomotive ,
heavy , huge and made of sweat -
the fatty oils .
It stands and gasps , stutters and blows ,
And glow of hot beats abdomen :
Rum - so hot!
Uh - how hot !
Puff - so hot!
Whistle - how hot !
https://www.google.com/search?q=locomotive+julian+tuwim+english&source=lnms&tbm=vid&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjMx-er-p78AhUKx4sKHYhzCqcQ_AUoA3oECAEQBQ&biw=1536&bih=714&dpr=1.25#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:29df1e13,vid:IueSOqUiFxY
Mister Hilary runs and screams:
“Where on Earth could my glasses be?”
He checks in his pants and in his frock,
In his shoes, and in his socks.
Closet? Upturned, in a sorry shape,
He pats his robe, already patted his cape.
“A scandal!” he yells, “it’s beyond belief!
To have my glasses—stolen by a thief!”
Under the couch, on top of the seat,
Everywhere he pries: wheezing, beat.
He looks in the oven, and up the chimney,
In mouse holes and between piano keys.
He’ll rip up the floor, piece by piece,
Already he wants to call the police.
Then suddenly he peeks into the mirror…
He can’t believe it… He draws nearer.
Eureka! Though who would ever suppose,
His glasses are on his very own nose.
Hilary is a name of Latin-Greek origin, created from the Latin word laris, which mean cheerful, joyful.
The poem "Glasses" is a good example of the poet's work, addressed to children, in which there is no room for intrusive moralizing. The author focuses on an interesting plot, topped with a witty and surprising punchline.
The ABCs fell off the mantelpiece,
Slammed against the ground,
They scattered into all four corners,
And shattered all around:
I—misplaced its dot,
H—is strangely squat,
B—bruised its belly,
A—‘s legs turned to jelly,
O—popped like a balloon,
causing P to swoon,
T—lost its hat,
L—jumped into U, just like that,
S—straightened out,
R—broken right leg no doubt,
W—is head-over-heels,
discovering exactly how M feels.
Nationalists, Poles, Jews, Łódź were hit by Julian Tuwim. He practically had something in everyone to reproach and stigmatized in his poems. Not a lot of people also know that he was a communist. After the Soviet Union invaded Germany in 1943, Tuwim joined the group of supporters of the Soviet Union.
"He was big and stupid", "The degenerate Mr. Tuwim affects young souls like the most virulent poison" - that's how other polish authors described him at that time.
1. State Prize, 1st degree (1952)
2. Award of the City of Łódź - literary award for lifetime achievement in the field of literature (1928)
3. Award of the City of Łódź - a literary award for lifetime achievement in poetry (1949)
4. Polish PEN Club Award (1935)
5. Honorary Doctorate of the University of Łódź (1949)
6. By the resolution of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland of the 7th term of 7 December 2012, 2013 was declared the Year of Julian Tuwim[