A Contribution to Statistics
by Wislawa SzymborskaEnglish version by Clare Cavanagh and Stanislaw Baranczak
Original Language Polish
Out of a hundred people
those who always know better
-- fifty-two
doubting every step
-- nearly all the rest,
glad to lend a hand
if it doesn't take too long
-- as high as forty-nine,
always good
because they can't be otherwise
-- four, well maybe five,
able to admire without envy
-- eighteen,
suffering illusions
induced by fleeting youth
-- sixty, give or take a few,
not to be taken lightly
-- forty and four,
living in constant fear
of someone or something
-- seventy-seven,
capable of happiness
-- twenty-something tops,
harmless singly, savage in crowds
-- half at least,
cruel
when forced by circumstances
-- better not to know
even ballpark figures,
wise after the fact
-- just a couple more
than wise before it,
taking only things from life
-- thirty
(I wish I were wrong),
hunched in pain,
no flashlight in the dark
-- eighty-three
sooner or later,
righteous
-- thirty-five, which is a lot,
righteous
and understanding
-- three,
worthy of compassion
-- ninety-nine,
mortal
-- a hundred out of a hundred.
Thus far this figure still remains unchanged.
-- from Poems New and Collected, by Wislawa Szymborska / Translated by Stanislaw Baranczak |
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/ Image by Andy Maguire /
View All Poems by Wislawa Szymborska
I always knew statistics had a poetic heart. After such terrible abuse by advertisers and politicians, statistics will redeem themselves in great and painful art.
worthy of compassion
-- ninety-nine,
mortal
-- a hundred out of a hundred.
Thus far this figure still remains unchanged.
Of course, even the best-natured of statistics exist to taunt us, to challenge us. Then again, that's what those irascible poets do too...
Recommended Books: Wislawa Szymborska
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Poems New and Collected | Miracle Fair: Selected Poems of Wislawa Szymborska | View with a Grain of Sand: Selected Poems | Nothing Twice: Selected Poems | Here |
More Books >> |