Sposoby opracowania akuminu. Jakub Masen i jego cykl epigramatyczny „De Iuda proditore”

The theory which Jacob Masen presented in the work Ars nova argutiarum was well considered by him. The author wanted to present a diversity of possibilities which enabled building the argutia; he also attempted to arrange their multiplicity in clearly structured categories. He was interested in making reference to those acumens which occur in the grounds of the depicted reality as well as those which are based on the lingual devices. The whole of the lecture is strongly rooted in the philosophical analyses belonging to the old dialectics; it is especially based on Categories by Aristotle. Without a doubt, the lecture places itself in that scope of poetics which refers to a sophisticated poetry. The author leads the reader step by step, disclosing to him more new possibilities of creating the argutia. It is worth noticing that he generally makes references to the same contents. Within the scope of the presented epigrammatic cycle, especially to the Judas’ suicidal death. Skilfully infl uencing the fl ow of thoughts, controlling the occurring associations, using the game of words allowed the author to develop a rich epigrammatic collection. The works do not always present a proper level of artistry. They happen to be too simple in what they communicate. However, there are also such works which cause the intended surprise and joy of disclosing a thought conveyed in a veiled form by the poet. It is diffi - cult to determine whether Masen’s belief that actually every argutia can be assigned to the sources specifi ed by him is true. However, without a doubt he left an important tool for carrying literary research on this scope of Baroque literary works which used acumens. The question whether the theory presented by the Jesuit is an introduction into the poetic art or already a lecture on the sophisticated art still remains unanswered and a problem to solve. The epigrams concerned are not subjected to graphical forms. Apart from the fourth source, they generally lack solutions typical for the sophisticated poetry such as, for example, anagram. The presented epigrams do however contain something typical for the very essence of the sophisticated poetry. As a matter of fact, a juxtaposition of its vari ous forms shows that in each of them a line is assigned to a certain scheme, adopted by the poet. Generally, it is a graphical scheme, sometimes a scheme based on a game of letters or metrical devices. In case of Masen, it is also a certain scheme. However, this scheme is not related to the external layer of the work but it lies at its foundation. The point is that it concerns internal assumptions, the course of thinking and logical associations.