“Idzie o to, żeby szło. Miało wzięcie. Działało. Żyło”. Improwizowanie filomatów

The article discusses improvisational performances of the Philomaths in the context of the advent of a so-called modernity which correlated with a rapid change in people’s lifestyles. My starting point in examining the most characteristic phenomena of the literary life in Vilnius is the newly emerged economic environment: the enormous popularity of improvised poems (performed or written impromptu) and the development of the printed press. The analysis of the Philomaths’ performances, letters and poems focuses on various aspects of improvising, and not only on poetry presentations but also on a spontaneous way of living and the process of literary production. I argue that the improvisational activity of the Philomaths can be considered as an act of experimenting with and adapting various (traditional as well as innovative) literary patterns, and therefore as a poetic laboratory of the new romantic era.