Tuwim’s Poetic Returns to Łódź and Inowłódz

Abstract

Reflections on Julian Tuwim’s poems Podróż (Journey, 1924) and [“Ja do ciebie nie mogę, nie mogę...”] ([“I cannot, I cannot go to you ...”], 1952) focus on a common theme of a man rooted in the homeland of his childhood and youth. The argument is based on the close relationship between biography and existential reflection. Tuwim’s remembrance of the reality of Łódź and Inowłódz leads to the conclusion that memory is the most important value. A tenant house and courtyard in Łódź or a forest in Inowłódz are the microspace of the remembered and mythologized landscape, evoking the poet’s expressively articulated experiences.