Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "Census," Wis?awa Szymborska engages with the unsettling reality that history is an ever-expanding tapestry, bursting at the seams with unnamed and forgotten figures. The poem begins by invoking the mythological aura of Troy, an ancient city that has long captivated human imagination due to Homer's "Iliad." However, Szymborska immediately disrupts the romantic notion by revealing that seven cities have been excavated where Troy once stood. This serves as a stark reminder that our collective memory often streamlines the messy, multilayered tapestry of history into easily digestible narratives.

The poem illustrates that for every epic hero like Hector, there are thousands of unknown individuals who lived, struggled, and died in anonymity. These "fierce tenants" who "elbow their way through history" exist outside the hexameters of epic poetry, tangential to the stories that civilizations tell about themselves. They are the unnamed multitudes, the "sword-fodder," the essential yet ignored backdrops against which grand narratives unfold.

Szymborska articulates the uncomfortable question: "What can we do about them, what can we give them?" The impossibility of fitting these untold stories into preexisting narratives leads her to suggest a kind of reparation-perhaps "some century hitherto under-populated" or "some small recognition for their gold-work." However, the idea that it's "too late for the last judgment" alludes to the overwhelming nature of this moral dilemma. We are all, she states, "three billion judges," each grappling with our own myriads of unnamed, uncounted people.

The poem then pivots to contemporary times, showing that this issue of overpopulation and anonymity is not just a problem of antiquity but a current existential crisis. Our own modern multitudes-in railway stations, sports stadiums, and processions-echo the unnamed hordes of history. Szymborska aptly concludes with a devastating image: "Homer holds down a job in the bureau of statistics. No one knows what he does at home." This is a scathing commentary on how even the greatest chroniclers of human stories would find themselves overwhelmed by the task of enumerating today's human population, let alone affording them the depth and humanity they deserve.

Thus, "Census" serves as a poignant meditation on the limitations of history and storytelling. Szymborska calls into question the ethics of representation, asking who gets included or excluded in the narratives that come to define civilizations. The poem holds a mirror to the reader, challenging us to reckon with the unrecorded lives that surround us, both in the annals of history and in the forgotten corners of our contemporary world.

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