Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński

Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński (1905–1953) was a poet gifted with an exceptional capacity for the music of language, able to work wonders with irony, the grotesque and the absurd. He published a popular series of humorous sketches under the title Green Goose Theatre (Teatrzyk Zielona Gęś). He translated two of Shakespeare’s plays: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Sen nocy letniej, 1952) and Henryk IV, Część 1 (Henry IV, Part 1, 1954).

He studied Classics and English at the University of Warsaw and then made a living writing for the radio, the stage and cabaret. On multiple occasions he put his talent at the service of opposing ideologies. He wrote subtle and lyrical poetry, unfolding in evanescent and dream-like landscapes. He was under political and material pressure to undertake the Shakespeare translation. Those closest to him also provided encouragement. He also translated from other languages, including Spanish, German, Russian and French. In 1953 he was posthumously awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.

Gałczyński worked on his translation between 1949 and 1952. The State Publishing Institute (PIW) commissioned a new translation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the expectation that it would be staged too. Like other translator-poets of the period, he was guided not so much by the literal meaning of the text, as by poetic intuition. Many of his contemporaries saw the constant transgressions entailed by this strategy as the translation’s greatest strength.

He referred to English editions and also consulted other Polish versions, along with German and Russian translations. His version of the comedy uses an eleven-syllable line (scarcely rhymed) and for the history play he extended the metre to thirteen syllables.

Sen nocy letniej was first performed in 1952, receiving enthusiastic reviews. Since then there have been more than sixty productions, making it one of the most frequently staged Polish translations. It was less warmly received by the academy, who criticised Gałczyński for his departures from the original, his modernisations and the excessive deployment of idyllic and fairy-tale elements. The translation has also been the subject of critical attention seeking to place it in the context of Gałczyński’s poetry.

The critical response to Henryk IV was less extensive. It was first performed in 1958 and has been staged on six subsequent occasions, sometimes as part of a compilation of other translations. Both of Gałczyński’s translations have been through several editions.