Synopses & Reviews
These twenty-seven poems consider life on earth, from the microbe to the apocalypse. Along the way they take in, among other objects of study, the human teenager, divorce, Ella Fitzgerald, Vermeer’s Milkmaid, dreams, traffic accidents, Greek statues, television miniseries, the vagaries of memory, Madame Atropos, and even poetry writing. A book to treasure, from a virtuoso of form, line, and thought.
PRAISE FOR WISLAWA SZYMBORSKA
“Accessible and deeply human . . . A poet to live with.” —Robert Hass
“She teaches us how the world defies and evades the names we give it.” —Edward Hirsch
“A subtle, even a subversive muse of vulnerability and a great European poet.” —Richard Howard
"Satisfying and original . . . Extremely smart, witty, and levelheaded, [Szymborska] seduces us with her wide range of interests, her atypical lack of narcissism for a poet, and her cheerful pessimism." —Charles Simic
Review
"No reader, not even poetry-phobes, should miss the bright revelations of Nobel laureate Szymborska. [...] Syzmborska is sharply ironic and lithely philosophical, pondering the phenomenal precision of dreams and the elusiveness of meaning. The neat, prancing lyrics collected in this slender, piercing book are delectable and profound." --Booklist
Review
PRAISE FOR WISLAWA SZYMBORSKA
"Szymborska is unquestionably one of the great living European poets. She's deeply human and a joy to read . . . [A] poet to live with."--Robert Hass, The Washington Post Book World
"She captures the nightmarish contingency of human survival, and the human callousness toward nature, with an ironic elegance miraculously free of bitterness."--The New Yorker
Review
"The wry and slyly tender voice of Wislawa Szymborska couldn't belong to anyone else."
Synopsis
A delectable and profound collection of poems from Nobel Prize-winner Szymborska (Booklist).
When Here was published in Poland, reviewers marveled, "How is it that she keeps getting better?"
These twenty-seven poems, as rendered by prize-winning translators Clare Cavanagh and Stanislaw Baranczak, are among her greatest ever. Whether writing about her teenage self, microscopic creatures, or the upsides to living on Earth, she remains a virtuoso of form, line, and thought.
From the title poem:
I can't speak for elsewhere,
but here on Earth we've got a fair supply of everything.
Here we manufacture chairs and sorrows,
scissors, tenderness, transistors, violins, teacups, dams, and quips. . .
Like nowhere else, or almost nowhere,
you're given your own torso here,
equipped with the accessories required
for adding your own children to the rest.
Not to mention arms, legs, and astonished head.
Synopsis
From one of Europes most prominent and celebrated poets, a collection remarkable for its graceful lyricism. With acute irony tempered by a generous curiosity, Szymborska documents lifes improbability as well as its transient beauty to capture the wonder of existence. Preface by Mark Strand. Translated by Stanislaw Baranczak and Clare Cavanagh, winners of the PEN Translation Prize.
Synopsis
Described by Robert Hass as "unquestionably one of the great living European poets" and by Charles Simic as "one of the finest poets living today," Szymborska mesmerizes her readers with poetry that captivates their minds and captures their hearts. This is the book that her many fans have been anxiously awaiting-the definitive, complete collection of poetry by the Nobel Prize-winning poet, including 164 poems in all, as well as the full text of her Nobel acceptance speech of December 7, 1996, in Stockholm. Beautifully translated by Stanislaw Bara«nczak and Clare Cavanagh, who won a 1996 PEN Translation Prize for their work, this volume is a must-have for all readers of poetry.
Synopsis
A new collection of poems from Nobel Prize-winner Szymborska--her first collection in seven years, these twenty-seven poems are among her finest.
Synopsis
An exciting collection of poems by Wislawa Szymborska. When
Here was published in Poland, reviewers marveled, “How is it that she keeps getting better?” These twenty-seven poems, as rendered by prize-winning translators Clare Cavanagh and Stanislaw Baranczak, are among her greatest ever. Whether writing about her teenage self, microscopic creatures, or the upsides to living on Earth, she remains a virtuoso of form, line, and thought.
From the title poem:
I cant speak for elsewhere,
but here on Earth weve got a fair supply of everything.
Here we manufacture chairs and sorrows,
scissors, tenderness, transistors, violins, teacups, dams, and quips . . .
Like nowhere else, or almost nowhere,
youre given your own torso here,
equipped with the accessories required
for adding your own children to the rest.
Not to mention arms, legs, and astonished head.
Synopsis
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Synopsis
A collection of poems from Nobel Prize-winner Szymborska.
Synopsis
A new book of poems by Wislawa Szymborska is an occasion to celebrate. These twenty-seven poems consider life on earth, from the microbe to the apocalypse. Along the way they take in, among other objects of study, the human teenager, divorce, Ella Fitzgerald, Vermeers Milkmaid, dreams, traffic accidents, Greek statues, TV miniseries, the vagaries of memory, Madame Atropos, and even poetry writing. A book to treasure, from a virtuoso of form, line, and thought.
Synopsis
Praise for Wislawa Szymborska“She teaches us how the world defies and evades the names we give it.” -Edward Hirsch
“Accessible and deeply human…A poet to live with.” -Robert Hass
“A subtle, even a subversive muse of vulnerability and a great European poet.” -Richard Howard
Synopsis
From a writer whom Charles Simic calls "one of the finest poets living" comes a collection of witty, compassionate, contemplative, and always surprising poems. Szymborska writes with verve about everything from love unremembered to keys mislaid in the grass. The poems will appear, for the first time, side by side with the Polish originals, in a book to delight new and old readers alike.
EVERYTHING
Everything-
a bumptious, stuck-up word.
It should be written in quotes.
It pretends to miss nothing,
to gather, hold, contain, and have.
While all the while it's just
a shred of a gale.
Synopsis
This definitive edition of Szymborskas poetry in English includes the 100 poems in View with a Grain of Sand as well as sixty-four newly translated poems and her 1996 Nobel Prize acceptance speech. Translated by Stanislaw Bara«nczak and Clare Cavanagh.
About the Author
WISLAWA SZYMBORSKA (1923–2012) was born in Poland and worked as a poetry editor, translator, and columnist. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1996.
CLARE CAVANAGH, professor of Slavic and comparative literature at Northwestern, has received a PEN Translation Award for her work, with Stanislaw Baranczak, on Szymborska's poetry.
Table of Contents
Forewordix
Monolog psa zaplatanego w dzieje 2
Monologue of a Dog Ensnared in History 3
Chwila 10
Moment 11
W zatrzesieniu 14
Among the Multitudes 15
Chmury 20
Clouds 21
Negatyw 24
Negative 25
Sluchawka 26
Receiver 27
Trzy slowa najdziwniejsze 28
The Three Oddest Words 29
Milczenie roslin 30
The Silence of Plants 31
Platon, czyli dlaczego 34
Plato, or Why 35
Mala dziewczynka sciaga obrus 38
A Little Girl Tugs at the Tablecloth 39
Ze wspomnien 42
A Memory 43
Kaluza 44
Puddles 45
Pierwsza milosc 46
First Love 47
Troche o duszy 48
A Few Words on the Soul 49
Wczesna godzina 54
Early Hour 55
W parku 58
In the Park 59
Przyczynek do statystyki 60
A Contribution to Statistics 61
Jacys ludzie 64
Some People 65
Fotografia z 11 wrzesnia 68
Photograph from September 11 69
Bagaz powrotny 70
Return Baggage 71
Bal 74
The Ball 75
Notatka 78
A Note 79
Spis 82
List 83
Wszystko 88
Everything 89
Uprzejmosc niewidomych 90
The Courtesy of the Blind 91
ABC 94
ABC 95