WIERZYNSKI, KAZIMIERZ

born Aug. 27, 1894, Drogobytsch, Austria-Hungary [now Drohobych, Ukraine] died Feb. 13, 1969, London, Eng. Polish poet, a leader of the Skamander group of poets. Wierzynski moved to Warsaw after the restoration of Poland's independence at the close of World War I and became one of the foremost members of the Skamander group. His poetical debut was Wiosna i wino (1919; Spring and Wine), followed by Wrble na dachu (1921; Sparrows on the Roof) and Wielka Niedzwiedzica (1923; The Great She-Bear)all inspired by carefree juvenile optimism. Out of his interest in sports, he published in 1927 a collection of poems, Laur Olimpijski (The Olympic Laurel Wreath), for which he won a special gold medal at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam. When World War II started he left Poland for Paris but in 1940 moved to Rio de Janeiro and later to New York City. After the war he lived mainly in London. In the 1930s and later in exile the poet left the exuberance of his youth behind him and dealt with patriotic and religious themes. Among his collections of dolorous verse from this period are Wolnosc tragiczna (1936; Tragic Freedom) and Krzyze i miecze (1946; Crosses and Swords). In his later poems, published in Cyganskim wozem (1966; With a Gypsy Cart), Czarny polonez (1968; The Black Polonaise), and other collections, Wierzynski abandoned traditional metre and rhyme to use more modern poetic devices.