Wisława Szymborska

xiv, 96 pages ; 21 cm

The latest work by the distinguished French writer Nathalie Sarraute, Here recreates the frustration of attempting to recall a forgotten word. Just beyond the grasp of memory, the elusive name of a person, a tree, or of a well-known artist is pursued through the dialogues, repetitions, and silences of everyday speech. The struggle to remember brings out the many interpretations and misunderstandings caused by the simplest and most banal of phrases - a theme found throughout Sarraute's work. As in previous books, she explores the minute, almost imperceptible responses to spoken words and thoughts, describing them with a minimum of concrete or social context. Although highly abstract, Here is surprisingly sensual in its analogies: intimidating laughter from the ever-present, threatening crowd is frantically mopped up with a sponge and a bucket of disinfectant; the words of subdued politeness are like low-fat foods lacking in real nourishment; the suggestion of obscure menace is experienced as a whiff of cheap make-up.

In these 100 poems Wislawa Szymborska portrays a world of astonishing diversity and richness, in which nature is wise and prodigal and fate unpredictable, if not mischievous. With acute irony tempered by a generous curiosity, she documents life's improbability as well as its transient beauty. The ruins of Troy; sunlight gleaming on a pewter jug; birds returning in the spring; the Abominable Snowman lurking in the Himalayas; a body-building contest; a symphony; a macabre laboratory experiment with a decapitated dog; a postcard from a sister who has "much to tell"; the discovery of a new star; the irrationality of love; the infinity of [pi].

Translated and Introduced by Magnus J. Krynski and Robert A. Maguire Regarded as one of the best representatives since World War II of the rich and ancient art of poetry in Poland, Wislawa Szymborska (b. 1923) is, in the translators' words, "that rarest of phenomena: a serious poet who commands a large audience in her native land." The seventy poems in this bilingual edition are among the largest and most representative offering of her work in English, with particular emphasis on the period since 1967. They illustrate virtually all her major themes and most of her important techniques. Describing Szymborka's poetry, Magnus Krynski and Robert Maguire write that her verse is marked by high seriousness, delightful inventiveness, a prodigal imagination, and enormous technical skill. She writes of the diversity, plenitude, and richness of the world, taking delight in observing and naming its phenomena. She looks on with wonder, astonishment, and amusement, but almost never with despair. --Publisher.

It's a powerful combination of the world's best literature and superior reading and skills instruction. "Prentice Hall Literature Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes" helps students grasp the power and beauty that lies within the written word, while the program's research-based reading approach ensures that no child is left behind.

Collects translations of poems from throughout the author's career, including several new translations, including her entire final collection in English for the first time.

10th grade

High School level

"Najlepiej w życiu ma Twój Kot, bo jest przy Tobie"-- pisze z Zakopanego przyszła Noblistka Wisława Szymborska do Kornela Filipowicza. To po jego śmierci powstanie słynny wiersz "Kot w pustym mieszkaniu". Nie byli typową parą-- spędzili ze sobą ponad dwadzieścia lat, ale nigdy razem nie zamieszkali. "Byliśmy końmi, które cwałują obok siebie"-- mówiła. W chwilach rozłąki zawsze pisali do siebie listy. Listy zabawne, liryczne, miłosne. Znajdziemy w nich i intymne wyznania i ceny cielęciny czy jajek, refleksje nad własnym warsztatem pisarskim i nad twórczością kolegów, opowieści o rodzinie i przyjaciołach. Mistrzowsko napisane, pełne tęsknoty i czułości pozwalają wniknąć w wyjątkowe uczucie łączące dwoje ludzi, którzy-- jak o nich mówiono - nawet jeśli stali do siebie plecami, cały czas patrzyli sobie w oczy.

"In this witty "how-to" guide, Wis¿awa Szymborska has nothing but sympathy for the labors of would-be writers generally: "I myself started out with rotten poetry and stories," she confesses in this collection of pieces culled from the advice she gave-anonymously-for many years in the well-known Polish journal Literary Life. She returns time and again to the mundane business of writing poetry properly, that is to say, painstakingly and sparingly. "I sigh to be a poet," Miss A. P. from Bialogard exclaims. "I groan to be an editor," Szymborska responds. Szymborska stubbornly insists on poetry's "prosaic side": "Let's take the wings off and try writing on foot, shall we?" This delightful compilation, translated by the peerless Clare Cavanagh, will delight readers and writers alike"--