"WHITE LADY PASSED THE SALON AGAIN! ... " GHOSTS, WITCHES AND DEMONS IN MARIA PAWLIKOWSKA-JASNORZEWSKA'S POETRY

The article aims at discussing the motive of extra-terrestrial creature presence (devils, witches, ghosts) in the poems by the most outstanding poetess of the inter-war period. Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska showed her interest in magic and seances as early as in her childhood, which was attested primarily in her 1929-1930 collections of poems: Paryz (Paris) (especially the cycle Duchy < Ghosts >) and Profil bialej damy (A Profile of White Lady). The paper points at some elements which prove the poetess' fascination, namely titles of collections and single poems (Rozowa magia < Pink Magic >, Rada pani Girard, czarownicy < The Advice of Mme, Girard, a Witch >), poems that reflect experience of a forlorn poetess (Czarownicy Paryza < The Magicians of Paris >) or such poems which mirror her acquaintance with books that touch demonological problems (Historia o czarownicach < A Tale of Three Witches >), and ultimately-poems which bring the problem of gentle spiritism and spinning around the theme of necessity of love (Nieudany Seans < An Unsuccessful Seance >). Ghosts, demons and witches in Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska's take various shapes each of which, as the author of the paper maintains, deserves better recognition.