Why is Papusza considered a Polish poet? (poetry from Poland cycle)

She never wrote in Polish, only in her native Gypsy language. Even today the Polish Gypsies speak Polish with a clear foreign accent and very likely this was her case as well.  Why is she considered a Polish poet?

Papusza was born probably in 1909 among the Polska Roma tribe of Gypsies. The date is only probable as she was born among wandering Gypsies who didn’t bother with birth certificates. Polska Roma are the Gypsies who since the Middle ages have wandered within the boundaries of the Kingdom of Poland. The old Polish Kingdom was a multicultural society where the Polish culture was dominant, so the Polish Gypsies tended to be bilingual in Romany and Polish. During the Second World War the Nazis wanted to exterminate all “alien races”, which included Jews and Gypsies. The Gypsies could hide in the woods easier than the Jews, but in the Eastern part of Poland (now Ukraine) there was another problem – the Ukrainian extreme nationalists, who were allied with the Nazis. Their goal was to exterminate all Polish speakers in their area and so they also targeted the Polish speaking Gypsies. Papusza’s band during the war stayed in Volynia (now Ukraine) and had to hide both from the Nazis and from the Ukrainian extremists. After the war the Polska Roma Gypsies moved with the boundaries and Papusza’s band left Volynia for what is now Western Poland, but was Germany before the war.

Just after the war a young Gorgio (non-Gypsy) who was fascinated by the Gypsy life joined her band and travelled with them for some time. He was a young and aspiring poet Jerzy Ficowski. He was charmed by the songs of this young girl and translated them into Polish. The translations came to attention of Julian Tuwim, who at that time was considered the best living Polish poet. Thanks to Tuwim’s influence Papusza’s first book of poems appeared in 1951.

As it happens Papusza was unusual among the Gypsies of her time – she could actually read her book. It was not usual among the Gypsies in the 1920s to send children to school and Papusza said she taught herself to read by asking Polish schoolchildren to explain her the meaning of letters. She read a lot and was fully aware of what it meant to have a book published and to have as a friend someone like Tuwim. Other Gypsies, however, did not necessarily appreciate this and here her problems started.

Jerzy Ficowski was fascinated by the Gypsies and wrote a book about them. This was the time when the Polish government tried to persuade the Gypsies to settle (the communist authorities did not like a wandering people who were difficult to control). In the early sixties the government forcibly settled all the Gypsy bands. Some Gypsy people connected this to the book written by Ficowski. And who was his chief informant? Papusza! The girl who could read Polish and who herself had a book published. To add insult to injury Ficowski also published a Polish-Gypsy dictionary! Sacrilege! Papusza was declared a traitor and excluded from the Gypsy community.

Gypsies usually outwardly profess the religion of their country but apart from that they have their own system of values and taboos. Or one should rather say they have a system of values different from that of Gorgios. It is not considered wrong to take somebody else’s property, certainly not it the owner is a Gorgio. A Gypsy would think nothing of pinching a chicken from somebody’s yard for dinner (or – as Papusza said she had done – to pay with it for reading lessons), but the betrayal of “Gypsy secrets” – such as the language – is an offence of the highest order. Gypsies also have a kind of a chief, called “baroshero” (literally “bighead”) who acts as a judge in matters of Gypsy law. The baroshero of Polska Roma decided that Papusza should be excluded from the Gypsy community.

Papusza’s band settled in the 1960s in Gorzów in Western Poland. This is where Papusza lived with her husband Dionizy Wajs. Since the problems with the Gypsy elders started she had serious psychological problems and had to spend some time in an asylum. At the end of her life she moved to Inowroclaw in Central Poland, where she died in 1987.

Her real name was Bronislawa Wajs.

As often happens – her work grew in popularity after her death. The younger generation of Gypsies – who would have gone to school – is not likely to condemn her any more. The younger generation is more likely to be proud of the Gypsy poet who gained fame among Gorgios.

Her name should be pronounced Papooshah (Broneeswavah Vice)

The name of her translator into Polish is pronounced Yezhy Feetsofskee.

O DEEP DARK FOREST (Vesho dadoro mio)

O deep dark forest

You are my father, I know.

You brought me up,

Later you left me.

Your leaves tremble

And I tremble, too.

You sing and I sing.

You laugh and I laugh.

You have never forgotten

And I remember, too.

Dear God, where shall I go?

What shall I do, where shall I find

Fables and songs?

I don’t go to the forest any more.

I don’t go to the meetings with the river.

O deep dark forest

You are my father

I know.

WATER THAT ALWAYS WANDERS

Long gone are the times

When Gypsies wandered around,

But I still see them.

They are like running water

Always running away.

You can only guess

What she would like to say.

Poor water has no speech

With which she could talk or sing,

Only sometimes she whispers

A silver splash like a heartbeat.

A heartbeat of speaking water.

Only a horse on a meadow

Not far from the stables

Hears her and understands.

Water looks not at the horse,

Always running away.

No eyes could ever pin down

Water that always wanders.

If you would like to read these poems (and some more) on paper, 

You can get a printout of my book "POLISH INSPIRATIONS"