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Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Searching... Author: SZYMBORSKA, WISLAWA Matches Found: 368 Szymborska, Wislawa Poet's Biography 368 poems available by this author 16-MAY-73 First Line: One of those many dates %that no longer ring a bell Last Line: Nothing less than one whole second A FEW WORDS ON THE SOUL Poem Text First Line: We have a soul at times. Subject(s): Soul A FILM FROM THE SIXTIES Poem Text First Line: This adult male. This person on earth. Subject(s): Motion Pictures; Movies; Cinema A FUNERAL Poem Text First Line: So suddenly, who would've expected this' Subject(s): Funerals; Burials A GREAT MAN'S HOUSE Poem Text First Line: It was written in marble in golden letters: Subject(s): Houses A MOMENT IN TROY Poem Text First Line: Little girls -- / skinny, resigned Subject(s): Troy A TERRORIST IS WATCHING Poem Text First Line: The bomb will go off in the bar at one-twenty Subject(s): Terrorism ACROBAT First Line: From trapeze to %to trapeze, in the hush that Last Line: At this very passing moment that's just passed Subject(s): Acrobats And Acrobatism ACROBAT First Line: From trapeze to %to trapeze, in the stillness after Last Line: At just this-now it's gone-moment ADVERTISEMENT First Line: I'm a tranquilizer. %I'm effective at home Last Line: There are no other takers. %there is no other devil anymore ADVERTISEMENT First Line: I am a tranquilizer Last Line: There's no other devil left AGING OPERA SINGER First Line: Today he sings this way: tralala tra la Last Line: Only %who remembers her now ALIVE First Line: These days we just hold him Last Line: Hugged by a death %whose permit has elapsed ALLEGRO MA NON TROPPO First Line: Life, you're beautiful--I say Last Line: Momentarily forgetting %to what end it runs and runs? AMONG THE MULTITUDES First Line: I am who I am Last Line: That is, %someone completely different ANY CASE First Line: It could have happened Last Line: How quickly your heart is beating in me ANY CASE First Line: It could have happened Last Line: How fast your heart is pounding in me ARCHEOLOGY First Line: Well, my poor man. %seems we've made some progress in my field Last Line: And the long gone %smell of burning Variant Title(s): Archaeolog ASTONISHMENT First Line: Why after all this one and not the rest? Last Line: Just like the growling thing we call a dog? ATLANTIS First Line: They were or they weren't. %on an island or not Last Line: Nothing was called. %on this more-or-less atlantis ATLANTIS First Line: They existed-or not- %on an island, or no-island Last Line: In this atlantis, or no-place ATLANTIS First Line: Did they exist or not Last Line: On this plus minus atlantis ATTEMPT First Line: Ah yes, sweet little song, how much you mock me Last Line: I'm here but once to the marrow of my bones AUTOTOMY First Line: In danger, the holothurian cuts itself in two Last Line: The abyss doesn't divide us. %the abyss surrounds us AUTOTOMY First Line: In danger the holothurian splits itself in two Last Line: A chasm surrounds us AUTOTOMY First Line: When in danger the sea-cucumber divides itself in two Last Line: The chasm surrounds us BALL First Line: As long as nothing can be known for sure Last Line: While winking at us %unintentionally BALLAD First Line: Hear the ballad 'murdered woman Last Line: And she sings and combs her hair, %which still grows BEHEADING First Line: Decolletage comes from decollo Last Line: The detail %is unyielding BEHEADING First Line: Decolletage comes from decollo Last Line: The detail %is immutable BIRDS RETURN First Line: This spring the birds have again come back too early Last Line: Looks on all life as attempts repeatedly failed BIRTHDAY Poem Text Subject(s): Conduct Of Life BIRTHDAY First Line: So much world all at once -- how it rustles and bustles! Last Line: So aloofly precise and so fragilely proud BODYBUILDERS' CONTEST First Line: From scalp to sole, all muscles in slow motion Last Line: Is tribute to the force of vitamins BORN First Line: So this is his mother. %this small woman Last Line: This is my mother.' %was all he said BORN OF WOMAN First Line: So that is his mother Last Line: This is my mother,' %was all he said to me BRIEF LIFE OF OUR ANCESTORS First Line: Only a few lived until thirty Last Line: Life, even if long, will always be short. %too short to add anything to it BRUEGHEL'S TWO MONKEYS First Line: This is what I see in my dreams about final exams Last Line: He prompts me with a gentle %clinking of his chain BUFFO First Line: First, our love will die, alas Last Line: Listening to the small bells ringing %day and night BYZANTINE MOSAIC First Line: O theotropia, my empress consort' Last Line: I am thy twin in horror. %lead on, theotropia' CAT IN AN EMPTY APARTMENT Poem Text First Line: Dying -- you wouldn't do that to a cat Subject(s): Cats CAT IN AN EMPTY APARTMENT First Line: Die -- you can't do that to a cat Last Line: And no leaps or squeals at least to start CAT IN AN EMPTY APARTMENT First Line: Dying -- you wouldn't do that to a cat Last Line: And no jumping, purring at first Subject(s): Animals; Cats CAT IN AN EMPTY APARTMENT First Line: Die-you can't do that to a cat. %what is it to do, the cat Last Line: And-for the time being-no jumping up; %a buttoned lip CAVE First Line: There's nothing on the walls %except for dampness Last Line: Launched headfirst from the void, %you'd love to know CENSUS Poem Text First Line: Seven cities have been excavated Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life CENSUS First Line: Seven cities have been excavated Last Line: No one knows what he does in his spare time Subject(s): Cities CENSUS First Line: On the hill where troy once stood Last Line: No one knows what he does in his spare time CENSUS Poem Text First Line: On the hill where troy once stood Last Line: No one knows what he does at home CENTURY'S DECLINE First Line: Our twentieth century was going to improve on the others Last Line: The most pressing questions %are naive ones CERTAINTY First Line: Thou art certain, then, our ship hath touch'd upon Last Line: Then cast upon this world's bohemian shore? CERTAINTY First Line: Thou art certain, then, our ship hath touch'd upon Last Line: And cast ashore on the bohemias of this world? CHILDREN OF OUR AGE Poem Text First Line: We are children of our age Subject(s): Politics & Government CHILDREN OF OUR AGE First Line: We are children of our age, %it's a political age Last Line: Just as in times immemorial %and less political CHILDREN OF THE EPOCH First Line: We are children of the epoch Last Line: As in distant %and less political epochs CLASSIC First Line: A few clumps of earth and his life will be forgotten Last Line: Hear-ye hearers-now become but hearing CLASSIC First Line: A few clods of dirt, and his life will be forgotten Last Line: O listeners -- now listen -- be all ears CLASSIFIEDS First Line: Whoever's found out what location Last Line: I cannot be responsible. %mr. Day's widow, mrs. Night CLOCHARD Poem Text First Line: In paris, on a day that stayed morning until dusk Subject(s): Paris, France CLOCHARD First Line: In paris, on a day that stayed morning until dusk Last Line: Enterprising eve %barbara, clare CLOTHES First Line: You take off, we take off, they take off Last Line: Whose usefulness has suddenly been prolonged CLOUDS First Line: I'd have to be really quick %to describe clouds Last Line: They don't have to be seen while sailing on COLORATURA First Line: Poised beneath a twig-wigged tree Last Line: The whole world up. And we're all ears COMMEMORATION First Line: They made love in a hazel grove Last Line: The aureole of lovers, %have mercy on them CONTRIBUTION OF STATISTICS First Line: One of a hundred people Last Line: Thus far this figure still remains unchanged CONTRIBUTION ON PORNOGRAPHY First Line: There is no debauchery worse than thought CONVERSATION WITH A STONE First Line: I knock at the stone's front door Last Line: I don't have a door,' says the stone CONVERSATION WITH STONE First Line: I knock on the stone's door. %-it's me, let me in Last Line: #name? COULD HAVE First Line: It could have happened. %it had to happen Last Line: Listen, %how your heart pounds inside me DEALINGS WITH THE DEAD First Line: Under what circumstances do you dream of the dead? Last Line: Conveniently changing the topic of the dream? %waking up just at the right moment? DINOSAUR SKELETON First Line: Beloved brethren, %we have before us an example of incorrect proportions Last Line: So much responsibility in place of a vanished tail DISCOVERY First Line: I believe in the great discovery Last Line: My faith is strong, blind, and without foundation DISCOVERY First Line: I believe in the great discovery Last Line: My faith is strong, blind, and without foundation DRINKING WINE Poem Text First Line: He looked, and gave me beauty Subject(s): Drinks & Drinking; Wine DRINKING WINE First Line: He looked, and gave me beauty Last Line: A nail from which a picture %has been removed Subject(s): Drinks And Drinking EFFORT First Line: Alack and woe, oh song: you're mocking me Last Line: I'm one-time-only to the marrow of my bones ELEGIAC CALCULATION First Line: How many of those I knew Last Line: Which their absence demands END AND THE BEGINNING First Line: After every war %someone has to tidy up Last Line: With a cornstalk in his teeth, %gawking at clouds Subject(s): War END OF THE CENTURY First Line: It was supposed to be better than the previous ones, our 20th Last Line: There are no questions more urgent %than questions that are naive EPITAPH First Line: Here lies, old-fashioned as parentheses Last Line: To weigh szymborska's fate for half a minute EVALUATION OF AN UNWRITTEN POEM First Line: In the poem's opening words Last Line: The answer can only be: no one q.E.D EVERY CASE First Line: It could have happened Last Line: How quickly your heart beats to me EVERYTHING Poem Text First Line: Everything - / a bumptious, stuck-up wor EXPERIEMENT Poem Text First Line: As a short subject before the main feature Subject(s): Heads EXPERIMENT First Line: As a short subject before the main feature Last Line: The head %was happy EXPERIMENT First Line: As a short before the main feature Last Line: The head %was happy FALLING FROM THE SKY First Line: Magic is dying out, although the heights Last Line: That's some other spark nearby, having engine trouble' FAMILY ALBUM Poem Text First Line: No one in this family has ever died of love Subject(s): Love FAMILY ALBUM First Line: No one in this family has ever died of love Last Line: Their vanishing was due to influenza Subject(s): Love FAMILY ALBUM First Line: No one in my family has ever died of love Last Line: And they, consoled, would waste away from grippe FILM FROM THE SIXTIES First Line: This adult male. This person on earth Last Line: God of humor, do something about him today FILM OF THE SIXTIES First Line: That grown-up man. Living on this earth of ours Last Line: O god of humor, you've got to do something about him FIRST LOVE First Line: They say %the first love's most important Last Line: It introduces me to death FIRST PHOTOGRAPH OF HITLER First Line: And who is this baby in a robe? Last Line: The history teacher loosens his collar %and yawns over the students' notebooks FOUR A.M. Poem Text First Line: The hour between night and day. Subject(s): Night; Bedtime FOUR A.M. First Line: The hour between night and day Last Line: If we've got to go on living FOUR IN THE MORNING First Line: The hour from night to day Last Line: If we're to go on living FROZEN MOTION First Line: This isn't miss duncan, the noted danseuse? Last Line: Never again, but still at nine a.M. Sharp FUNERAL First Line: So sudden, who would have expected it' Last Line: Call, we'll talk' %'number 4, or 12' %'I, this way' %'and we, that' FUNERAL First Line: So suddenly, who could have guessed FUNERAL (1) First Line: His skull, dug up from clay Last Line: Still full of blood and hopes FUNERAL (2) First Line: So suddenly, who could have seen it coming' Last Line: I'm going this way' %'we're not' GOING HOME Poem Text First Line: He came home. Said nothing Subject(s): Homecoming GOING HOME First Line: He came home. Said nothing Last Line: For now, though, he has curled up and gone to sleep Subject(s): Homecoming GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY First Line: They must have been different once Last Line: A dove, seen identically, perched on the windowsill GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY First Line: They must have been at one time unalike Last Line: A dove identically seen has lighted in the window GRATITUDE First Line: I owe a lot Last Line: Love would say, %'I owe them nothing.' GRATITUDE First Line: I owe a great deal Last Line: On this open question GREAT MAN'S HOUSE First Line: It was written in marble in golden letters Last Line: And quercus rubra and ulmus and lanix %and fraxinus excelsior GREAT MAN'S HOUSE First Line: The marble tells us in golden syllables Last Line: And quercus rubra, and ulmus, and larix, %and fraxinus excelsior GREAT NUMBER First Line: Four billion people on this earth Last Line: How that open space is in me still - %I don't know GREAT NUMBER First Line: Four billion people on this earth of ours Last Line: That I do not know GREETING THE SUPERSONICS First Line: Faster than sound today, %faster than light tomorrow Last Line: We will have set off chasing %ourselves rather than you HAPPY LOVE First Line: A happy love. Is it normal Last Line: With such faith, they would find it easier to live and to die HATRED Poem Text First Line: See how efficient it still is, Subject(s): Hate HATRED First Line: See how efficient it still is Last Line: And gazes unflinchingly at the future %as only it can HATRED First Line: Look, how spry she still is %how well she holds up Last Line: She looks bravely into the future %she alone HERMITAGE First Line: You expected a hermit to live in the wilderness Last Line: He's underneath the bench pretending he's a wolf HERMITAGE First Line: You thought a hermit lived hermetically Last Line: Fido is lying under a bench pretending he's a wolf HIMALAYAN EXPEDITION NOT MADE First Line: Aha, so these are the himalayas Last Line: On the snow %the snow eternal HITLER'S FIRST PHOTOGRAPH Poem Text Recitation First Line: And who's this little fellow in his itty-bitty robe? Subject(s): Hitler, Adolf (1889-1945) HITLER'S FIRST PHOTOGRAPH First Line: And who's this little fellow in his itty-bitty robe? Last Line: A history teacher loosens his collar %and yawns over homework Subject(s): Hitler, Adolf (1889-1945) HOMECOMING First Line: He was back. Said nothing HUNGER CAMP AT JASYO Poem Text First Line: Write it. Write. In ordinary ink Subject(s): Concentration Camps HUNGER CAMP AT JASYO First Line: Write it. Write. In ordinary ink Last Line: Write: how silent. %'yes' Subject(s): Concentration Camps I AM TOO CLOSE ... First Line: I am too close for him to dream of me Last Line: A host of fallen angels perches on each tip, %waiting to be counted I AM TOO NEAR First Line: I am too near to be dreamt of by him Last Line: The fallen angels sit I'M WORKING ON THE WORLD First Line: I'm working on the world, %revised, improved edition Last Line: For the time being %on a saw IN BROAD DAYLIGHT First Line: He would %vacation in a mountain boardinghouse, he would Last Line: Be treated -- such a pity -- %as a commonplace event IN HERACLITUS'S RIVER First Line: In heraclitus's river %a fish is busy fishing Last Line: May only be the dark's embarrased wink IN MULTITUDES First Line: I am who I am Last Line: Someone completely different IN PRAISE OF DREAMS First Line: In my dreams %I paint like vermeer van delft Last Line: And the night before last a penguin, %clear as day IN PRAISE OF DREAMS First Line: In my dreams %I paint like vermeer van delft Last Line: And the day before yesterday a penguin. %with the utmost clarity IN PRAISE OF FEELING BAD ABOUT YOURSELF Poem Text First Line: The buzzard never says it is to blame. Subject(s): Conscience IN PRAISE OF FEELING BAD ABOUT YOURSELF First Line: The buzzard never says it is to blame Last Line: A clear conscience is number one IN PRAISE OF MY SISTER First Line: My sister does not write poems Last Line: She'll tell us, everything, %everything, %everything IN PRAISE OF MY SISTER First Line: My sister doesn't write poems Last Line: Much %much to tell IN PRAISE OF SELF-DEPRECATION First Line: The buzzard has nothing to fault himself with Last Line: On the third planet of the sun INNOCENCE First Line: Conceived on a mattress made of human hair Last Line: It's been proved %tausend-und tausendmal INTERVIEW WITH A CHILD First Line: The master hasn't been among us long Last Line: That even the six legs of a cricket would not suffice INTERVIEW WITH A CHILD First Line: The master hasn't been among us long Last Line: That beetle's six legs wouldn't be enough INTO THE ARK First Line: An endless rain is just beginning Last Line: Lambs %cauliflowers %diapers JOY OF WRITING First Line: Why does this written doe bound through these written woods? Last Line: The power of preserving. %revenge of a mortal hand JOY OF WRITING First Line: Where is a written deer running through a written Last Line: A revenge of a mortal hand JOY OF WRITING First Line: Where through the written forest runs that written doe? Last Line: The revenge of a mortal hand LANDSCAPE First Line: In the old master's landscape, %the trees have roots beneath the oil paint Last Line: A bony man sits at the table %fixing a clock LARGE NUMBER First Line: Four billion people on this earth Last Line: Why there's still all this space inside me %I don't know LAUGHTER First Line: The little girl I was -- %I know her, of course Last Line: Open too wide %like the eyes of the dead LAUGHTER First Line: A little girl that I was Last Line: Like the eyes of the dead LAUGHTER First Line: The little girl I was Last Line: Like the eyes of the dead LAZARUS TAKES A WALK First Line: The professor has died three times now Last Line: What a shame. %this time he came so close LESSON First Line: Subject king arthur predicate cuts direct Last Line: Predicate marches off to indirect object war LETTERS OF THE DEAD First Line: We read letters of the dead and are like helpless gods Last Line: For by their calculations they should see in them %perfection LETTERS OF THE DEAD First Line: We read the letters of the dead like helpless gods Last Line: They've figured out they'll find perfection there LETTERS OF THE DEAD First Line: We read the letters of the dead like helpless gods Last Line: Their calculations tell them that they'll find perfection there LIFE WHILE YOU WAIT Last Line: Will be forever changed into that which I have done LIFE WHILE-YOU-WAIT First Line: Life while-you-wait. %performance without rehearsal Last Line: And whatever I do %will become forever what I've done LIKENESS First Line: If the gods' favorites die young Last Line: A new navel blooms %on the artist's belly LIST Poem Text LITTLE GIRL TUGS AT THE TABLECLOTH First Line: She's been in this world for over a year Last Line: This experiment must be completed. %and it will LITTLE ON THE SOUL First Line: Periodically one has a soul Last Line: Needs us for something too LOT'S WIFE Poem Text First Line: I looked back supposedly curious Last Line: Possibly I fell face turned towards the city Subject(s): Sodom LOT'S WIFE First Line: They say I looked back out of curiosity Last Line: It's possible I fell facing the city Subject(s): Sodom LOT'S WIFE First Line: I looked back supposedly curious Subject(s): Sodom LOT'S WIFE First Line: I looked back allegedly out of curiousity Last Line: It is not out of the question %that I fell with my face toward the town LOT'S WIFE First Line: They say I looked back from curiosity Last Line: It could be that I fell, my face turned toward the city LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT First Line: They're both convinced %that a sudden passion joined them Last Line: And the book of events %is always open halfway through MAYBE ALL THIS Last Line: Tell him he's got to see this for himself MEDIEVAL ILLUMINATION First Line: O'er the greenest of hills Last Line: Of itself, self-evidentliest MEDIEVAL MINIATURE First Line: Up the verdantest of hills Last Line: Oh yes, all that went without %even the slightest of sayings MEMORY AT LAST Poem Text First Line: Memory at last has what it sought Subject(s): Memory MEMORY AT LAST First Line: Memory at last has what it sought Last Line: I touched the world as if it were a carved frame MEMORY FINALLY First Line: Memory's finally found what it was after Last Line: I touched the world, a chiseled picture-frame MILLION LAUGHS, A BRIGHT HOPE First Line: So he wants happiness Last Line: God's poor little creature %a veritable man MIRACLE FAIR First Line: A common miracle Last Line: An aditional miracle, as everything is additional, %what is unthinkable %is thinkable MIRACLE FAIR First Line: The commonplace miracle: %that so many common miracles take place Last Line: The unthinkable %can be thought MIRACLE MART First Line: Common miracle MOMENT IN TROY First Line: Little girls -- %skinny, resigned Last Line: Little girls %returning Subject(s): Troy MOMENT IN TROY First Line: Little girls %skinny and despairing Last Line: The little girls %going back MONKEY First Line: Evicted from the garden long before Last Line: Though we don't greet each other when we meet MONOLOGUE FOR CASSANDRA First Line: I am cassandra Last Line: The face that did not know it could be beautiful MOTION First Line: You're crying here, but there they're dancing Last Line: Who are you, lovely masquerader MUSEUM First Line: Here are plates but no appetite Last Line: Determined to keep living when I'm gone MUSEUM First Line: There have been plates but no appetite Last Line: And how much it would like to outlast me! NEGATIVE Poem Text First Line: Against a grayisch sky NEGATIVE First Line: In the dun-colored sky Last Line: That is, the storm before the calm NEGATIVE First Line: Against a grayish sky %a grayer cloud Last Line: Concerning life, %the storm before the calm) NO END OF FUN Poem Text First Line: So he's got to have happiness, Subject(s): Happiness; Joy; Delight NO END OF FUN First Line: So he's got to have happiness Last Line: Poor little beggar. %a human, if ever we saw one NO TITLE REQUIRED First Line: It's all come down to me sitting under a tree Last Line: Is more important than the unimportant NO TITLE REQUIRED First Line: It has come to this: I'm sitting under a tree Last Line: That what's important %is more important than what's not NOTE First Line: In the first showcase %there is a stone Last Line: Through what kind of resemblance? What compared to what? NOTES FROM A NONEXISTENT HIMALAYAN EXPEDITION First Line: So these are the himalayas. %mountains racing to the moon Last Line: On the everlasting %snow NOTHING TWICE First Line: Nothing can ever happen twice Last Line: Just as two drops of water are NOTHING'S A GIFT First Line: Nothing's a gift, it's all on loan Last Line: And it's the only item %not included on the list OLD FOLKS' HOME First Line: Her comes her highness -- well you know who I mean Last Line: Monday through friday, with two weeks' vacation ON DEATH, WITHOUT EXAGGERATION Poem Text First Line: It can't tell a joke Last Line: As if it were just learning on each of us Subject(s): Death ON DEATH, WITHOUT EXAGGERATION First Line: It can't take a joke, %find a star, make a bridge Last Line: As far as you've come %can't be undone ON THE BANKS OF THE STYX First Line: Dear individual soul, this is the styx Last Line: Can make you, sorry soul, a bit less wretched ON THE QUESTION OF PORNOGRAPHY Poem Text First Line: No debauchery compares with thinking. Subject(s): Pornography ONCE WE KNEW THE WORLD WELL Last Line: It is extraordinary as old truths in a prayer ONE VERSION OF EVENTS Poem Text Subject(s): Life Choices ONE VERSION OF EVENTS First Line: If we'd been allowed to choose Last Line: And with something they seemed to have won in their hands ONE VERSION OF EVENTS First Line: If indeed we were allowed to choose, %we must have been mulling things over Last Line: And as if they were carrying the spoils? Of what? ONION First Line: The onion, now that's something else Last Line: Not for us such idiotic %onionoid perfections Subject(s): Farm Life OPINION ON THE QUESTION OF PORNOGRAPHY First Line: There's nothing more debauched than thinking Last Line: And through a crack in the curtains %take a peep out at the street OUR ANCESTORS' SHORT LIVES First Line: Few of them made it to thirty Last Line: Too short for anything to be added OVER WINE First Line: He glanced, gave me extra charm Last Line: Where a picture used to be PALAEOLITHIC FERTILITY FETISH First Line: The great mother has no face Last Line: To form a zigzag over essence. %the ornament's last laugh PARABLE First Line: Some fishermen pulled a bottle from the deep. It held a piece Last Line: They all fel awkward. No one spoke. That's how it goes with %universal truths PARABLE First Line: Some fishermen pulled a bottle from the deep. In it was a scrap Last Line: They all felt uneasy. A silence fell. So it is with universal truths PARTING WITH A VIEW First Line: I don't reproach the spring Last Line: And only by enough, %to contemplate from afar PARTING WITH A VIEW First Line: I don't begrudge the spring Last Line: To reflect from afar PEOPLE ON A BRIDGE First Line: A strange planet and strange these people on it Last Line: The road without end, eternally to be walked, %and in their audacity they believe %it is really so PEOPLE ON A BRIDGE First Line: A strange planet with its strange people PEOPLE ON THE BRIDGE First Line: An odd planet, and those on it are odd, too Last Line: And they have the nerve to believe %that this is really so PERFECT First Line: Thou are perfect, them, our ship hath touch'd upon PI First Line: Pi deserves our full admiration PI First Line: The admirable number pi Last Line: Nudging, always nudging a sluggish eternity %to continue PIETA Poem Text First Line: In the small town where the hero was born Last Line: Walking past the next batch of tourists Subject(s): Poland; Farewell PIETA First Line: In the small town where the hero was born Last Line: Walking past the next batch of tourists Subject(s): Poland PIETA First Line: In the town where the hero was born you may Last Line: Passing by the new arrivals in the hall PLATO, OR WHY ON EARTH First Line: For reasons unclear Last Line: Scraps of the grand highland silence PLOTTING WITH THE DEAD First Line: Under what conditions do you dream of the dead? Last Line: Or waking up just in time? POETRY READING Poem Text First Line: To be a boxer, or not to be there Subject(s): Poetry Readings POETRY READING First Line: To be a boxer, or not to be there Last Line: We start to read. O muse Subject(s): Poetry Readings PORTRAIT OF A WOMAN Poem Text First Line: She must be willing to please PORTRAIT OF A WOMAN First Line: Must present alternatives PORTRAIT OF A WOMAN First Line: She must be willing to please Last Line: For better, for worse, and for heaven's sake Subject(s): Women PORTRAIT OF A WOMAN First Line: She must be a variety. %change so that nothing will change Last Line: For better, for worse, for heaven's sake PORTRAIT OF A WOMAN First Line: She must be all-in-one Last Line: For better, for worse, for goodness' sake POSSIBILITIES Poem Text First Line: I prefer the cinema. Subject(s): Likes & Dislikes POSSIBILITIES First Line: I prefer movies Last Line: I prefer to take into consideration even this possibility, %that life has meaning POSSIBILITIES First Line: I prefer movies. %I prefer cats Last Line: That existence has its own reason for being PROFESSOR WALKS AGAIN First Line: The professor has already died three times Last Line: Once again he pulls away from us PROLOGUE TO A COMEDY First Line: He made himself a glass violin so he could see what music looks Last Line: A fool like this for her fit amusement and innocent pleasure PSALM First Line: Oh, the leaky boundaries of man-made states! Last Line: The rest is mixed vegetation, subversive moles, and wind PSALM First Line: How leaky are the borders of man-made states Last Line: The rest is mixed forest, undermining moles, and wind PSALM First Line: Oh, how porous are the boundaries of man-made states! Last Line: The rest is all mixed forests, the burrowing of moles, and wind RAILROAD STATION First Line: My nonarrival in the city of n Last Line: Somewhere else. %how these little words ring REAL WORLD First Line: The real world doesn't take flight Last Line: Along our escape route %where reality isn't expecting us REALITY DEMANDS Poem Text First Line: Reality demands / that we also mention this Subject(s): Earth; War; World REALITY DEMANDS First Line: Reality demands %that we also mention this Last Line: And we can't help %laughing at that Subject(s): Earth; War REALITY REQUIRES Poem Text First Line: Reality requires / that we speak of these things: / life rolls on Subject(s): Reality REPORT FROM THE HOSPITAL Poem Text First Line: We used matches to draw lots; who would visit him Subject(s): Hospitals; Death; Dead, The REPORT FROM THE HOSPITAL First Line: We used matches to draw lots: who would visit him Last Line: The hospital smell makes me sick REPORT FROM THE HOSPITAL First Line: We drew lots, who would go and see him Last Line: The smell of a hospital makes me sick REST First Line: Her mad songs over, ophelia darts out Last Line: Non omnis moriar of love RETURN BAGGAGE First Line: The cemetery plot for tiny graves Last Line: Only stony greek has words for that RETURNING BIRDS First Line: This spring the birds came back again too early Last Line: Sees life as a chain of failed attempts RETURNS Poem Text First Line: He came home. Said nothing Subject(s): Homecoming RETURNS First Line: He came home. Said nothing Last Line: For now he's curled up, fallen asleep Subject(s): Homecoming REVIEW OF AN UNWRITTEN POEM First Line: In the first words of the poem Last Line: Certainly no one. Didn't I tell you? RUBEN'S WOMEN First Line: Herculasses, a feminine fauna %naked as the crashing of barrels Last Line: A moustached apollo astride a sweaty steed %enters into the steaming bedchamber RUBENS' WOMEN First Line: Titanettes, female fauna Last Line: Riding straight into the seething bedchamber SEANCE First Line: Happenstance reveals its tricks Last Line: And for a moment we are filled with joy %radiant and deceptive SEEN FROM ABOVE First Line: A dead beetle lies on the path through the field Last Line: That always claims the right of way SEEN FROM ABOVE First Line: On a dirt road lies a dead beetle Last Line: A death that enjoys an extorted primacy SEEN FROM ABOVE First Line: On a dirt road lies a dead beetle Last Line: A death that enjoys an extorted primacy SHADOW First Line: My shadow is a fool whose feelings Last Line: Across the tracks; the fool, not I SILENCE OF PLANTS First Line: Our one-sided acquaintance %grows quite nicely Last Line: Urgent in this hurried life %and postponed to never SILENCE OF PLANTS First Line: The one-sided acquaintance between me, and you, %is proceeding, in a way Last Line: Urgent, in this rush of life; %-postponed, infinitely SKELETON OF A DINOSAUR First Line: Beloved brethren, %we see here an instance of bad proportions Last Line: Highest of judges, %what a responsibility in place of a tail SKY First Line: I should have begun with this: the sky Last Line: My identifying features %are rapture and despair SLAPSTICK First Line: If there are angels, %I doubt they read Last Line: From laughter, if nothing else SMALL HOURS First Line: I am still asleep Last Line: And the dawning expertly turned into the morning SMILES Poem Text First Line: The world would rather see hope than just hear Subject(s): Hope; Statesmen; Optimism SMILES First Line: The world would rather see hope than just hear Last Line: So be it, then. It isn't all that bad SNAPSHOT OF A CROWD First Line: In the snapshot of a crowd Last Line: Where its memories, if any, %must reach deep into the future SOLILOQUY FOR CASSANDRA First Line: Here I am, cassandra. %and this is my city under ashes Last Line: A face that didn't know it could be beautiful SOME PEOPLE Poem Text First Line: Some people fleei some other people Subject(s): Refugees SOME PEOPLE First Line: Some people flee some other people Last Line: Abd will let them live some sort of life SOME PEOPLE LIKE POETRY First Line: Some people -- %that means not everyone Last Line: Like a redemptive handrail SPEECH AT THE LOST-AND-FOUND First Line: I lost a few goddesses while moving south to north Last Line: About a blue umbrella left yesterday on a bus SPEECH IN THE LOST-AND-FOUND OFFICE First Line: I lost a few goddesses on my way from south to north Last Line: Who yesterday merely lost an umbrella in a streetcar STAGE FRIGHT Poem Text First Line: Poets and writers Subject(s): Poetry & Poets; Writing & Writers STAGE FRIGHT First Line: Poets and writers. %so the saying goes Last Line: Against a crimson curtain's %purple fringe? STAGE FRIGHT First Line: Poets and writers, as the saying goes Last Line: With purple fringes STAGE-FRIGHT First Line: Poets and writers Last Line: Clear now only in the semi-darkness %against a burgundy curtain %with violet fringes? STARVATION CAMP NEAR JASLO Poem Text First Line: Write it down. Write it. With ordinary ink Last Line: Write how quiet it is. %yes STILL Poem Text First Line: In sealed box cars travel Subject(s): Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); Jews; Shoah; Judaism STILL First Line: In sealed box cars travel Last Line: Cor-rect, cor-rect, crash of silence on silence Subject(s): Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); Jews STILL First Line: Across the country's plains Last Line: That's-a-fact, drums on my silent door STILL First Line: In sealed box cars travel Last Line: Cor-rect, cor-rect, crash of silence on silence STILL ALIVE First Line: Now we just embrace Last Line: Clasped in a death limited by statute STILL LIFE WITH A BALLOON First Line: Returning memories? %no, at the time of death Last Line: Let someone else shout 'look!' %and I will cry STILL LIFE WITH A TOY BALLOON First Line: Instead of the death-hour Last Line: Let someone call after you, oh! %that I may cry STILL LIFE WITH TOY BALLOON First Line: Instead of the return of memories Last Line: So I can weep SUICIDE'S ROOM First Line: I'll bet you think the room was empty Last Line: Inside the empty envelope propped up against a cup SUICIDE'S ROOM First Line: You certainly think that the room was empty Last Line: In the empty envelope propped against the glass SURPLUS First Line: A new star has been discovered Last Line: And the acacia twig over there on the left. %'I see,' I say SYNOPSIS First Line: Job, sorely tried in both flesh and possessions, curses man's fate Last Line: Not want to ruin a masterpiece TALE BEGUN First Line: The world is never ready %for the birth of a child Last Line: Spare him %that one gift, %o heavenly powers TALE RETOLD First Line: Job, afflicted in body and possessions, curses his fate as a man Last Line: To spoil a masterwork TARSIER First Line: I am a tarsier and a tarsier's son Last Line: Know well how essential it is to be a tarsier TARSIER First Line: I tarsier, son of tarsier Last Line: Know how important it is to be tarsier TERRORIST IS WATCHING First Line: The bomb will go off in the bar at one-twenty Last Line: The bomb goes off Subject(s): Terrorism TERRORIST, HE WATCHES First Line: The bomb will go off in the bar at one twenty p.M. Last Line: The bomb, it goes off Subject(s): Terrorism TERRORIST, HE WATCHES First Line: The bomb will explode in the bar at twenty past one Subject(s): Terrorism TERRORIST, HE WATCHES First Line: The bomb will go off in the bar at one twenty p.M. Last Line: The bomb, it goes off TERRORIST, HE'S WATCHING First Line: The bomb in the bar will explode at thirteen twenty Last Line: Yes, now. %the bomb, it explodes Subject(s): Terrorism THANK-YOU NOTE First Line: I owe so much %to those I don't love Last Line: Would be love's answer %to this open question THE ACROBAT Poem Text First Line: From trapeze to / to trapeze, in the hush that Subject(s): Acrobats And Acrobatism THE END AND THE BEGINNING Poem Text First Line: After every war / someone has to tidy up Subject(s): War THE JOY OF WRITING Poem Text First Line: Where is the written doe headed, through these written woods Last Line: Revenge of a mortal hand Subject(s): Writing & Writers THE ONION Poem Text First Line: The onion, now that's something else Subject(s): Farm Life; Agriculture; Farmers THE SILENCE OF PLANTS Poem Text First Line: A one-sided relationship is developing quite well between you and me. Subject(s): Plants; Relationships; Planting; Planters THE TERRORIST, HE WATCHES Poem Text First Line: The bomb will explode in the bar at twenty past one Last Line: The bomb, it explodes Subject(s): Terrorism THE TWO APES OF BRUEGHEL Poem Text First Line: Here's my dream of a final exam Subject(s): Animals; Apes; Gorillas; Chimpanzees; Gibbons; Orangutans THE WOMEN OF RUBENS Poem Text First Line: Giantesses, female fauna Subject(s): Rubens, Peter Paul (1577-1640); Women THEATER IMPRESSIONS Poem Text First Line: For me a tragedy's most important act is the sixth Subject(s): Plays & Playwrights THEATER IMPRESSIONS First Line: For me a tragedy's most important act is the sixth Last Line: It clutches at my throat Subject(s): Plays And Playwrights THEATRE IMPRESSIONS First Line: For me the tragedy's most important act is the sixth Last Line: Does its duty %and grabs me by the throat THEATRICAL IMPRESSIONS Poem Text First Line: In tragedy I find the sixth act most important Last Line: Grips me by the throat Subject(s): Plays & Playwrights THEATRICAL IMPRESSIONS First Line: In tragedy I find the sixth act most important Subject(s): Plays And Playwrights THERE BUT FOR THE GRACE First Line: It could have happened Last Line: How fast your heart beats in me THIS DAY Poem Text First Line: The shrill of doorbell still returning to my ears Subject(s): News; Politics & Government THOMAS MANN First Line: Dear mermaids, it was bound to happen Last Line: With its hand miraculously feathered by a fountain pen THOMAS MANN First Line: Dear mermaids, it had to be this way Last Line: His hand wondrously quilled with a fountain pen THREE ODDEST WORDS First Line: When I pronounce the word future Last Line: I made something no nonbeing can hold THREE WORDS MOST STRANGE First Line: As I utter the word future Last Line: I create some-thing; being bursts out of non-being TO MY FRIENDS First Line: Well-versed in the expanses %that stretch from earth to stars Last Line: Just as after a salvo %plaster drops from the wall TO MY HEART, ON SUNDAY First Line: Thank you, my heart: %you don't dawdle, you keep going Last Line: The usual preholiday rush %continues underneath my ribs TO THE ARK First Line: The endless rain starts falling Last Line: To the happy islands %drying in the sun, %to the little lambs, %cauliflowers, %and diapers TORTURE First Line: Nothing has changed Last Line: While the body is and is and is 5and has no place to go Subject(s): Bodies; Capital Punishment; Pain TORTURES Poem Text First Line: Nothing has changed Subject(s): Torture TORTURES First Line: Nothing has changed. %the body is a reservoir of pain Last Line: Whereas the body is and is and is %and has nowhere to go TOWER OF BABEL First Line: What time is it? Oh yes, I'm so happy Last Line: What time it is, and I don't care TRAVEL ELEGY First Line: Everything's mine but just on loan Last Line: A single motion of the neck TRAVEL ELEGY First Line: All is mine but nothing owned Last Line: For excess and for lack %a single movement of the neck TRUE LOVE Poem Text First Line: True love. Is it normal Subject(s): Love - Nature Of TRUE LOVE First Line: True love. Is it normal Last Line: Their faith will make it easier for them to live and die Subject(s): Love - Nature Of TURN OF THE CENTURY First Line: It was supposed to be better than the others, our 20th century Last Line: There are no questions more urgent than %the naive ones TWO APES OF BRUEGHEL First Line: Here's my dream of a final exam Last Line: She prompts me %with a soft clanging of the chain Subject(s): Animals; Apes TWO MONKEYS BY BRUEGHEL First Line: I keep dreaming of my graduation exam Last Line: With a soft jingling of the chain UNDER A CERTAIN LITTLE STAR First Line: I aplogize to coincidence for calling it necessity Last Line: And later try hard to make them seem light UNDER A CERTAIN LITTLE STAR First Line: My apologies to chance for calling it necessity Last Line: Do not hold it against me, o speech, that I borrow weighty words, %and then labor to make them light UNDER ONE SMALL STAR First Line: My apologies to chance for calling it necessary Last Line: Then labor heavily so that they may seem light UNEXPECTED MEETING First Line: We treat each other with exceeding courtesy Last Line: Don't know how to talk to one another UNEXPECTED MEETING First Line: We are very polite to each other Last Line: Our people %have nothing to say UNWRITTEN POEM REVIEWED First Line: In the opening words of her composition UTOPIA Poem Text First Line: Island where all becomes clear Subject(s): Utopia UTOPIA First Line: Island where all becomes clear Last Line: Into unfathomable life Subject(s): Utopia UTOPIA First Line: An island where all is elucidated Last Line: In life beyond understanding UTOPIA First Line: An island on which all becomes clear Last Line: In a life that's not for comprehending VIETNAM Poem Text First Line: Woman, what's your name?' 'I don't know.' Subject(s): Children; Mothers; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975; Childhood VIETNAM First Line: Woman, what's your name?' 'I don't know' Last Line: Are those your children?' 'yes' VIETNAM First Line: Woman, what's your name?-I don't know Last Line: Are these your children?-yes VIEW WITH A GRAIN OF SAND First Line: We call it a grain of sand %but it calls itself neither grain nor sand Last Line: The character is invented, his haste is make-believe, %his news inhuman VOCABULARY First Line: La pologne? La pologne? Isn't it terribly cold here?' she asked Last Line: Pas du tout,' I answer icily VOICES First Line: You can't move an inch, my dear marcus emilius Last Line: Appius papius: march on! The world has got to end somewhere VOICES First Line: You scarcely move your foot when out of nowhere spring Last Line: O appius pappius: forward. Somewhere out there the world %must have an end WARNING First Line: Don't take jesters into outer space Last Line: So much good money lost in outer space WARNING First Line: Don't take scoffers into space Last Line: So much money thrown into outer space WATER First Line: A drop of water fell on my hand Last Line: Is written on waters of babel WATER First Line: A raindrop fell on my hand, %crafted from the ganges and the nile Last Line: Whenever wherever whatever has happened %is written on the water of babel WATER First Line: A drop of rain fell on my hand Last Line: Is written on the water of babel WE'RE EXTREMELY FORTUNATE Poem Text First Line: We're extremely fortunate / not to know precisely Subject(s): Earth; World WE'RE EXTREMELY FORTUNATE First Line: We're extremely fortunate %not to know precisely Last Line: The sign 'no walking on the grass' %a symptom of lunacy Subject(s): Earth WITHOUT A TITLE First Line: The two of them were left so long alone Last Line: Would shatter the entire universe WOMAN'S PORTRAIT First Line: Must be open to choices Last Line: For good, for bad and for goodness' sake WOMEN OF RUBENS First Line: Giantesses, female fauna Last Line: Mount rides into the seething alcove Subject(s): Rubens, Peter Paul (1577-1640); Women WONDERMENT First Line: Why to excess then in one single person? Last Line: Stares the growling that's called a dog? WRITING A RESUME First Line: What needs to be done? %fill out the application Last Line: The clatter of paper shredders WRITTEN IN A HOTEL First Line: Kyoto is fortunate, %fortunate and full of palaces Last Line: It's not kyoto, %not kyoto for sure WRITTEN IN A HOTEL First Line: Kyoto has good luck Last Line: Not kyoto for sure WRONG NUMBER First Line: A telephone's been ringing in a gallery room WRONG NUMBER First Line: At midnight, in an empty, hushed art gallery Last Line: Though he's got the wrong number? He lives on, so he errs |
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