Shakespeare or Szymonowicz?

♂

Dec 21, 10, 15:52 #1

Which is more readily understandable today -- the language of Shakespeare or a Polish contemporary of his? In terms of rank, Jan Kochanowski,'the father of Polish poetry',would be closer to the English bard in terms of literary stature, but he came a generation earlier than old Willy. Mikołaj Rey was even earlier and died shortly after Shakespeare was born.
Here is a poem by Szymonowicz whose life more or less coincides with that of Shakespeare. How would you Polish native speakers compare it to Shakeseare's language in term of comprehensibility? In other words, which language has changed more since the 16th century?

KOŁACZE
Szymon Szymonowicz (1558-1629)

Sroczka krzekce na płocie, będą goście nowi.
Sroczka czasem omyli, czasem prawdę powi.
Gdzie gościom w domu rado, sroczce zawsze wierzą
I nie każą się kwapić kucharzom z wieczerzą.
Sroczko, umiesz ty mówić, powiedz, gdzieś latała,
Z któryjeś strony goście jadące widziała?
Sroczka krzekce na płocie; pannie się raduje
Serduszko, bo miłego przyjaciela czuje.
Jedzie z swoją drużyną panie urodziwy,
Panie z dalekiej strony; pod nim koń chodziwy,
Koń łysy, białonogi, rząd na nim ze złota.

WroclawThreads: 77 Posts: 7,404 Joined: Apr 1, 06 ♂ [Moderator]	Dec 21, 10, 22:23 #2
Polonius3: Which is more readily understandable today As this section of the forum is primarily English Language one might expect the answer to be Bill Shakespeare. u could of course provide a translation, which would make it so much easier to offer a fair opinion.

Polonius3Threads: 1,005 Posts: 4,835 Joined: Apr 11, 08 ♂	Edited by: Moderator Dec 21, 10, 22:55 #3
I really was interested in the opinion of others, but I'd say this particular Polish text is entirely comprehnsible to anyone fluent in Polish. Shakespeare can be a tad more difficult. There are two forms of Off Topic. One is in English, whilst the other is in Polish. Due to the nature of your post you may enjoy the Polish language section

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