Włodzimierz Lewik

Włodzimierz Lewik (1905–1962) published only one Shakespeare translation: Opowieść zimowa (The Winter’s Tale, 1961). As an editor at the State Publishing Institute (PIW) he worked on many different translations of Shakespeare, some canonical, some post-war. He studied Polish at Lviv University, completing a PhD about prosody in 1932.

He translated poetry and drama from English, French, German, Norwegian, Romanian, Italian and Hungarian, among others. He was an influential figure in literary circles and a member of the Translation Section of the Polish Writers’ Union.

Lewik’s Zimowa opowieść was the last play in the first wave of new translations of Shakespeare after the Second World War. In principle it was a retranslation, setting itself up in opposition to the canon, with a modern lexicon and style. Lewik’s feeling for Shakespearean conventions had been shaped, however, by the close work he had done for many years on the canonical nineteenth-century translations, modernising their spelling and grammar, correcting mistakes and making clarifications. His style as a translator is characterised by, on the one hand, precision and linguistic correctness, and on the other, by its attention to period stylistic qualities. Lewik published nothing about the art of translation, but he declared there was a need for a guidebook on literary translation.

Lewik’s translation enthused Stanisław Helsztyński, who considered it to be both accurate and unfettered, and felt that the translator possessed all the necessary talents, as both a scholar and a poet. In spite of this high opinion, the text has never been staged. Over the years, it has occasionally been referred to, usually in the context of the Polish reception of The Winter’s Tale or an analysis comparing it with other translations. It has not been reissued.