Today marks the third death anniversary of Father Jan Twardowski, one of the most acclaimed Polish poets of our times.
His religious poems focusing on God and man, also reflect his love of nature, which he depicted in minute detail and portrayed as God’s perfect gift to mankind. His poetry is light in form yet contain profound meaning pertaining to the existential nature of life.
The most renowned poetry collections of Father Jan Twardowski include Signs of Trust, Blue-tinted glasses and You Who Create Blueberries. The phrase from one of his poems, ‘Let us hurry to love people; they depart so quickly’, is one of the author’s most famous quotations. He received many awards for his output including the Order of Poland Reborn, which was granted to him after his death.
Jan Twardowski was born in 1915. He studied literature in Warsaw. He joined the Polish resistance movement during World War II and fought in the Warsaw Rising in 1944. After the war, he applied to a seminary and began his studies in theology at the Warsaw University. He published his first collection of poems in 1960, which quickly brought him fame and recognition. He died on 18 January 2006.