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Classifieds

Wislawa Szymborska, Wislawa Szymborska poetry, Secular or Eclectic, Secular or Eclectic poetry,  poetry, [TRADITION SUB2] poetry,  poetry by Wislawa Szymborska
(1923 - ) Timeline

English version by
Clare Cavanagh and Stanislaw Baranczak

Original Language
Polish

Secular or Eclectic
Contemporary

WHOEVER'S found out what location
compassion (heart's imagination)
can be contacted at these days,
is herewith urged to name the place;
and sing about it in full voice,
and dance like crazy and rejoice
beneath the frail birch that appears
to be upon the verge of tears.

I TEACH silence
in all languages
through intensive examination of:
the starry sky,
the Sinanthropus' jaws,
a grasshopper's hop,
an infant's fingernails,
plankton,
a snowflake.

I RESTORE lost love.
Act now! Special offer!
You lie on last year's grass
bathed in sunlight to the chin
while winds of summers past
caress your hair and seem
to lead you in a dance.
For further details, write: "Dream."

WANTED: someone to mourn
the elderly who die
alone in old folks' homes.
Applicants, don't send forms
or birth certificates.
All papers will be torn,
no receipts will be issued
at this or later dates.

FOR PROMISES made by my spouse,
who's tricked so many with his sweet
colors and fragrances and sounds --
dogs barking, guitars in the streets --
into believing that they still
might conquer loneliness and fright,
I cannot be responsible.
Mr. Day's widow, Mrs. Night.

 

 

-- from Poems New and Collected, by Wislawa Szymborska / Translated by Stanislaw Baranczak

Amazon.com

 

Themes

  Birth, Rebirth
  Death
  Dream
  Honey
  Lover and Beloved


Recommended Books


Here, by Wislawa Szymborska / Translated by Clare Cavanagh
Miracle Fair: Selected Poems of Wislawa Szymborska, by Wislawa Szymborska / Translated by Joanna Trzeciak
Nothing Twice: Selected Poems, by Wislawa Szymborska / Stanislaw Baranczak
Poems New and Collected, by Wislawa Szymborska / Translated by Stanislaw Baranczak
Sounds, Feelings, Thoughts, by Wislawa Szymborska / Translated by Magnus J. Krynski

More >>

 

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Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2011 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.