The flowers of life and the flowers of death. On lyric poems by Bronisława Ostrowska

Abstract

Bronisława Ostrowska (1881-1928) was a Polish poet, novelist and translator. She was associated with the Young Poland movement at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20 th century. The poets of Young Poland (Bolesław Leśmian, Jan Kasprowicz, Leopold Staff, Kazimiera Zawistowska, Maryla Wolska and others) were interested in the world of plants, especially fascinated them “the speech of flowers”. Ostrowska describes the flowers of life and the flowers of death. In her poetry flowers sign, but their meaning is sometimes quite unexpected. For example, a rose becomes a symbol of death! The lily, a symbol of innocence, purity and virginity, in the lyric cycle Fragrance in flowers (Woń kwiatów) manifests eroticism! I tried to decode this mystical universe and explain some secrets.