„Chociaż nie grzeszyło, a przecie śmierci okrutnej skuszyło”. Wokół zapomnianych oraz mniej znanych staropolskich i oświeceniowych wierszy o śmierci zwierząt

The first part of the article presents, and discusses contextually, three epigrams, unknown and unpublished at the time: animal tombstones found among seventeenth-century Old Polish silva rerum (Ossolineum Library, ms. 4502/II). These small, poetic inscriptions, one of which turned out to have been appropriated from Petrarch’s work, have provided an impulse for a wider reflection on the relationship between the inhabitants of the old Polish Republic and non-human creatures. The poems are found to show traces of lyricism, sensitivity and empathy towards a dying animal. The second part of the article is concerned with a reflection on the Enlightenment funeralia dedicated to dogs and a canary. In the lyrics presented, the death of an animal was seen as an opportunity for a client’s acknowledgement of a patron, a pretext to express sisterly love, or to convey the universal truth about one’s general character.