Obscoena by Stanisław Trembecki

Every book has its own story. This selection of Stanisław Trembecki’s poems & translations is no exception. Once in the library I came across a modest-looking print, stamped with the “Cimelia” stamp that always arouses a desire to learn more, under the very tempting title: “Obscoena” published by PIW in 1953, as a supplement to the poet’s “Pism wszystkie”. Edition – trace, only 200 copies. In the catalogues of the National Library one can also find information that it was a “non-sale supplement, intended for academics & libraries”. What more is needed to arouse curiosity?

The booklet is not extensive: it contains only three poems: "Ode to Priapus", "The Case of the Older Sister Told to the Younger Sisters" and finally "To Elizabeth". The first of them is a translation of the famous "L'Ode à Priape" written in 1710 by the French poet and playwright Alexis Piron (1689–1773). Trembecki apparently translated the Polish text at the request of Stanisław August around 1787. During the reign of Stanisław August, it was not published, circulating only in a copy. The next poem, also a translation from French, is traditionally attributed to Trembecki, although there is no clear evidence. There is also information that the author of the translation could have been Bishop Adam Naruszewicz, who was also fond of various kinds of bawdiness. Finally, the third piece, "Na Elżbietę" (To Elżbieta), is also considered to be the work of Trembecki, although the poem is also attributed to Franciszek Zabłocki. It is a lampoon of Elżbieta Sapieha, née Branicka (1734–1800), a former lover of the king and a person who was exceptionally unpopular in Warsaw at the end of the century.

In a sense, the last poem of this collection is similar in tone: "Spartanka". Dedicated to Izabela Czartoryska, the undisputed leader of the anti-royal opposition at the time, it circulated in a copy among the monarch's closest circle. Just like "Ode to Priapus". The allusion is clear: as meticulous researchers have established,
On June 15, 1786, in Puławy, "Mother Spartan" was performed, an opera with a libretto by Dionizy Kniaźnin, a manifesto of Stanisław August's magnate opponents. "Spartanka" is the strongest attack to come out of the royal camp. And it is no wonder that the king decided not to publish it in print - it would be too big a scandal. Also later, when editions of his works appeared after the poet's death, "Spartanka" did not find its place. The manuscript was not rediscovered until 1918.

It can be considered a kind of historical joke that Trembecki a completely different poem is attributed, also devoted to the magnate opera: "At the representation in Puławy of the opera by Princess Kniaźnin «Mother Spartan» – a work of exceptional servility towards the Czartoryskis and Princess Izabela. It appeared in the Vilnius edition of the poet's works from 1822, in the preparation of which Adam Mickiewicz himself participated – and so it remained.