Wislawa Szymborska--No End of Fun, 1967
Wislawa Szymborska
Poems New and Collected—No End of Fun, 1967
This volume is a collection of the work of Szymborska, a Polish poet who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1996. All of her poems are straightforward, with clear and conversational diction and syntax. Many of the poems describe familiar subjects or topics of the twentieth century—wars and changes in society. Additionally, Szymborska’s poems often have an abrupt tone that results from the stark style. She uses similes frequently, but does not use other figurative language or trope in abundance.
Consider this poem, “Report from the Hospital”:
Report from the Hospital
We used matches to draw lots: who would visit him.
And I lost. I got up from our table.
Visiting hours were just about to start.
When I said hello he didn’t say a word.
I tried to take his hand—he pulled it back
like a hungry dog that won’t give up his bone.
He seemed embarrassed about dying.
What do you say to someone like that?
Our eyes never met, like in a faked photograph.
He didn’t care if I stayed or left.
He didn’t ask about anyone from our table.
Not you, Barry. Or you, Larry. Or you, Harry.
My head started aching. Who’s dying on whom?
I went on about modern medicine ad the three violets in a jar.
I talked about the sun and faded out.
It’s a good thing they have stairs to run down.
It’s a good thing they have gates to let you out.
It’s a good thing you’re all waiting at our table.
The hospital smell makes me sick.
First of all, the stark tone of the poem matches the title, which suggests that the poem will be a no-frills outline of events. Usually, we don’t think of poetry as a “report,” but Szymborska has captured the essence of the situation without copious description.
The stark diction, with as few words as possible, helps create the disconnected tone as well. For example, the speaker does not even indicate who she is visiting—the person in the hospital is referenced only by “him,” “he,” and “someone.” None of the characters in the poem are described clearly; the reader is given no background or context. This makes the disconnection described in the poem more applicable to any situation, rather than just sickness in a hospital.
Szymborska does not mince words; she writes a narrative poem with the events laid out clearly. In some stanzas, the poem reads like prose: “I got up from our table. / Visiting hours were just about to start.” Szymborska uses mostly simple sentences instead of complex sentences with clauses; this helps create the robotic, distant tone. Additionally, the repetition of phrases suggests that the speaker is just going through a set of motions without emotion behind them. In the fourth stanza, the final line (“Not you, Barry. Or you, Larry. Or you, Harry.”) has sonic repetition, since Barry/Larry/Harry are all obvious rhymes. This heavy rhyme creates a sing-song quality that indicates lack of connection with reality, something that is understandable in a situation with sickness. The reader can imagine the stress inevitable with long, drawn out illness. In the next to last stanza, every line begins “it’s a good thing they…” Each of the lines then goes on to describe a method of escape from the hospital: stairs, an open gate, or other people. The last line of the poem—“The hospital smell makes me sick”—creates a clear contrast between what’s “good” (anything outside the hospital) and what’s “bad” (anything related to the hospital). It’s clear that the speaker considers events in black and white; not only are emotions few and far between, but the emotions that do exist in the poem are not shown in a large spectrum.
Poems New and Collected—No End of Fun, 1967
This volume is a collection of the work of Szymborska, a Polish poet who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1996. All of her poems are straightforward, with clear and conversational diction and syntax. Many of the poems describe familiar subjects or topics of the twentieth century—wars and changes in society. Additionally, Szymborska’s poems often have an abrupt tone that results from the stark style. She uses similes frequently, but does not use other figurative language or trope in abundance.
Consider this poem, “Report from the Hospital”:
Report from the Hospital
We used matches to draw lots: who would visit him.
And I lost. I got up from our table.
Visiting hours were just about to start.
When I said hello he didn’t say a word.
I tried to take his hand—he pulled it back
like a hungry dog that won’t give up his bone.
He seemed embarrassed about dying.
What do you say to someone like that?
Our eyes never met, like in a faked photograph.
He didn’t care if I stayed or left.
He didn’t ask about anyone from our table.
Not you, Barry. Or you, Larry. Or you, Harry.
My head started aching. Who’s dying on whom?
I went on about modern medicine ad the three violets in a jar.
I talked about the sun and faded out.
It’s a good thing they have stairs to run down.
It’s a good thing they have gates to let you out.
It’s a good thing you’re all waiting at our table.
The hospital smell makes me sick.
First of all, the stark tone of the poem matches the title, which suggests that the poem will be a no-frills outline of events. Usually, we don’t think of poetry as a “report,” but Szymborska has captured the essence of the situation without copious description.
The stark diction, with as few words as possible, helps create the disconnected tone as well. For example, the speaker does not even indicate who she is visiting—the person in the hospital is referenced only by “him,” “he,” and “someone.” None of the characters in the poem are described clearly; the reader is given no background or context. This makes the disconnection described in the poem more applicable to any situation, rather than just sickness in a hospital.
Szymborska does not mince words; she writes a narrative poem with the events laid out clearly. In some stanzas, the poem reads like prose: “I got up from our table. / Visiting hours were just about to start.” Szymborska uses mostly simple sentences instead of complex sentences with clauses; this helps create the robotic, distant tone. Additionally, the repetition of phrases suggests that the speaker is just going through a set of motions without emotion behind them. In the fourth stanza, the final line (“Not you, Barry. Or you, Larry. Or you, Harry.”) has sonic repetition, since Barry/Larry/Harry are all obvious rhymes. This heavy rhyme creates a sing-song quality that indicates lack of connection with reality, something that is understandable in a situation with sickness. The reader can imagine the stress inevitable with long, drawn out illness. In the next to last stanza, every line begins “it’s a good thing they…” Each of the lines then goes on to describe a method of escape from the hospital: stairs, an open gate, or other people. The last line of the poem—“The hospital smell makes me sick”—creates a clear contrast between what’s “good” (anything outside the hospital) and what’s “bad” (anything related to the hospital). It’s clear that the speaker considers events in black and white; not only are emotions few and far between, but the emotions that do exist in the poem are not shown in a large spectrum.
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