Zbigniew Herbert Never Poems
- 1. Objects
Inanimate objects are always correct and cannot, unfortunately, be reproached with anything. I have never observed a chair shift from one foot to another, or a bed rear on its hind legs. And tables, even when they are tired, will not dare to bend their knees. I suspect that objects do this from pedagogical considerations, to reprove us constantly for our instability.
... - 2. Elegy Of Fortinbras
To C. M.
Now that weâ??re alone we can talk prince man to man
though you lie on the stairs and see more than a dead ant
... - 3. First The Dog
to Laika
So first the faithful dog will go
... - 4. The Return Of The Proconsul
Iâ??ve decided to return to the emperorâ??s court
once more I shall see if itâ??s possible to live there
I could stay here in this remote province
under the full sweet leaves of sycamores
... - 5. Mr. Cogito And The Imagination
Mr. Cogito never trusted
tricks of the imagination
the piano at the top of the Alps
... - 6. Rovigo
ROVIGO STATION. Unclear associations. A drama of Goethe
or something from Byron. I traveled through Rovigo
n times and exactly at the nth time I understood
that in my inner geography it is a special
... - 7. A Ballad That We Do Not Perish
Those who sailed at dawn
but will never return
left their trace on a wave--
... - 8. Prayer Of Pan Cogito - Traveller
Lord
Thank you for creating the world beautiful and of such variety
And also for allowing me in your inexhaustible goodness
To visit places which were not the scene of my daily torments
...
