Poems New And Collected: 1957-1997 – Nobel Prize Winner's Definitive Work with Award-Winning Translation

Liked receiving a pristine copy of book I ordered..

For a few weeks now, I have treated myself to one Szymborska poem from this book each day before going to bed or after waking up. Before that, I guzzled her lines like someone forever thirsty. Instead of quenching my thirst, though, I was spilling over - too much, too soon, binging on one poem after another. Slow down, sip and swirl each word, each line, I told myself. So I did. I had to. Reading Szymborska proves an entirely new way of looking at poetry, maybe a fourteenth way? There is another poet whose complete tomes of poetry I gobble up in one sitting, propped up by a pillow, traveling along like in a neverending story. But Szymborska's gripping images and wickedly witty syntax wraps me in a boxing hold, rendering me stationary, gasping for air. And then, there is that vast and vibrant mosaic in her poems made up of cultural, historical, and humanistic allusions that feel so close to skin rather than any history lesson: from a Kyoto hotel to the Holocaust to an onion to Brueghel. One commenter mused if one can add to a Nobel Prize winner's praise. I can't. But I can tell you how much she gives me.I have one wish, though, that I could speak Polish, more than just the few conversational phrases. Bravura translation it is, then.

Great poet. The translation however is not my favorite. Claire Cavanagh and Stanislaw Baranczak have won prizes for their translation, but it is so clear that it leaves no space for multiple meanings. For example, in the poem "Four in the Morning" one of the lines is "the hour of tossing and turning." Crystal clear. In another translation (by Magus Krynski and Robert Maguire) that line is "the hour from side to side." It gives work to our imagination.As a poet, Szymborska has solid, interesting things to say (especially social commentary) and unlike most poets she can be well understood even in translation. Sometimes her humor borders on the sarcastic, which takes some getting used to, for someone used to the more mellow American poets.

If you love poetry, you'll be a new fan of Szymborska's work just like me! (I'd also recommend watching some old interviews of her, she's awesome!)

These books are amazing. They were carefully packed and came not destroyed at all. Beautiful poems inside.

Szyborska sits by my chair and visitors who see the book frown and ask who she is and why am I reading her, with my huge backlog of reading obvious to anyone who visits me. She addresses this and a wide palette of human colors and textures in these poems. They seem (I know no Polish) well translated with great attention to syntactical detail that is often lacking in translation. I read one or two poems at a time, at each sitting, before moving on, and this does what I like poetry to do: evokes a sigh, smile, and attitude that launch me into the moment.

I am using the poems for reading in a zoom poetry group!

One of the best poets of our era.

Did not get far

I bought this book for my 8yr old daughter who is in "team Szymborska" at school - her teacher is well into his loreats! I wondered what/who Szymborska was as my daughter didn't know. Having found out who she is I decided to buy her book. I don't read books but I have read a few of her poems and think she's excellent. Very easy to read. I've tried to think how I can explain her work - it's very earthy, very real, very human. Here are just 2 verses of her poem called "hatred", which I think is brilliant and so true.Look, how spry she still is,how well she holds up:hatred, in our century.How lithely she takes high hurdles.How easy for her to pounce, to seize.She is not like the other feelings.At once older and younger than they.She alone gives birth to causeswhich rouse her to life.If she sleeps, it's never for eternity.Insomnia doesn't take away but gives her strength.

I can't understand what miracle seems to have occurred in the poems sounding so convincing in English!!This volume will definitely be my companion while I am alone. 'Into the Ark' is a fantastic poem.I am disappointed that another reviewer has chosen to pick out the poem on Hatred. I think it needs to be seen in the context of other poems, such as 'The Century's Decline' where she says:'A couple of problems weren't goingto come up anymore:hunger, for example,and war, and so forth.'and 'Happiness and spring, among other things,were supposed to be getting closer'.......

I love Wislawa's wit, style and above all her understanding of the human condition. She elicits a range of emotions , in this reader at least. "Under One Small Star", with lines such as "My apologies to time for all the world I overlook each second" and her use of theatre imagery in "Life-While-You-Wait" - "Oh no, there's no question, this must be the premiere./And whatever I do/will become forever what I've done" touch our innermost longings.

Superb collection . Read it, lend it to everybody who cannot obtain it