Samuel Twardowski

Samuel Ludwik Twardowski (before 1600 – 1661) was a Polish

He served as a secretary of Krzysztof Zbaraski on a diplomatic mission to the Ottoman Empire in 1622–1623. During that time he authored a diary describing the journey in verse: Przewazna legacja J.O. Ksiazecia Krzysztofa Zbaraskiego ("The Important Mission of His Grace Duke Krzysztof Zbaraski", published in 1633).

He also wrote about other historical events, which became a recognizable theme in his works. His most famous and respected work was Wojna domowa z Kozaki i Tatary, Moskwa, potya Szwedami i z-Wegry ("A Civil War with the Cossacks and Tatars, Muscovy, and then with the Swedes and Hungarians", published in 1681 in

His other historical works included the Książę Wiśniowiecki Janusz ("Prince Janusz Wiśniowiecki", published in 1648), poem Satyr na twarz Rzeczypospolitej ("Satire on the face of Rzeczpospolita", 1640), another epic poem Władysław IV ("Władysław IV Vasa", published in 1649) and Wojna domowa ("Civil war").

Twardowski also wrote Baroque pastoral romances, in which he employed the technique of Spanish verse narratives. Those poems include as Nadobna Paskwalina ("Fair Pasqualina", published in 1655) and mythological themes, in Dafnis w drzewo bobkowe przemieniela sie ("Daphne Transformed into a Laurel Tree", published in 1638).

Four of his poems were translated into English by Michael J. Mikoś and issued in Polish Baroque and Enlightenment Literature: An Anthology. Ed. Michael J. Mikoś. Columbus, Ohio/Bloomington, Indiana: Slavica Publishers. 1996.

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