A Contribution to Statistics
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.
Commentary
Since today’s poem by Seth (Poem #1226) to me read like a “listing”, I remembered this poem by Szymborska (phew! they should ask this in a Spelling Bee), which I was reading the other night from the latest anthology of the Favorite Poem Project. Well, no more commentry because the poem speaks for itself.
Sashi
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From the Wondering Minstrels mailing list, 1999–2008.
John K. Taber · 2 June 2003
Hello Sashi.
Szymborska’s last name is not difficult. Polish represents the “sh” sound with “sz”, and the
“ch” sound with “cz”.
The “y” in her name I suspect is difficult. But it’s ok as “shimborska.”
The “a” ending is feminine, and prevalent in Slavic names.
And her first name I never got straight. The “l” has a slash through it in Polish. I have heard it pronounced, but can’t reproduce it.
I love her poems.
John K. Taber
Flower Child · 2 June 2003
Can someone explain “taking only things from life”? I don’t understand.
~Sonya
lists · 15 July 2003
“Flower Child” <sonya.j.sowerby@> Sonya posted:
Can someone explain “taking only things from life”? I don’t understand.
This line, in Joanna Trzeciak’s translation, says:
“Getting nothing out of life except things:
thirty
(though I would like to be wrong).”
Although I generally like the translations by Stanislaw Baranczak and Clare Cavanagh, it’s worth checking Trzeciak’s and any others you can find. Szymborska is a poet I’ve only recently discovered, and she is a marvel. Wry, witty, ironic, at times fierce—there are wonderful depths once you get past the deceptively simply surface of her poems.
Check out “A Moment in Troy,” among many others.
George
Jedrek · 17 March 2004
On spelling Szymborska’s name - L should be crossed, which makes it a sound like W in words like ‘we’, ‘welcome’, ‘words’ etc. , or u in ‘suede’. Y in her second name is difficult to explain to an English-speaking person, it is a hard I. Transcripted into English phonetics it could be somethink like Veesuava Shimborska.
It is not a difficult word. Try chrzaszcz (a beetle), Szczebrzeszyn (name of a city) and skrzypce (violin).
Greetings,
Jedrek
Saleh Razzouk · 8 August 2006
It seemed to me that Wislawa Szymborska is a lady of command on cold words. Not for she does not anchor hers in a the heart, but for the machine of both , reason and conscious are responsible for the production process emotionally , and in a later step for rehabilitation of elements into a coloured , deep and ariny world.
Saleh Razzouk ( Journalist )