An unprinted Belarusian congratulatory poem from the first half of the 19th century in the collection of Jan Czeczot

Abstract

This article discusses a previously unpublished Belarusian poem of welcome and good wishes from the first half of the 19th century, entitled ‘Barys’, which has been preserved in Jan Czeczot’s manuscript collection. This work, in the form of a dramatised stage interlude, was written by a Uniate priest and was performed in honour of the landowner Schauman at his estate near Uła in the Lepel district. The author analyses the folk elements of expression in this text, publishes its full text whilst retaining the original spelling, and presents it as a valuable example of East Slavic occasional poetry from that period.