What Our Dead Do
Jan came this morning
—I dreamt of my father
he says
he was riding in an oak coffin
I walked next to the hearse
and father turned to me:
you dressed me nicely
and the funeral is very beautiful
at this time of year so many flowers
it must have cost a lot
don’t worry about it father
—I say—let people see
we loved you
that we spared nothing
six men in black livery
walk nicely at our sides
[...] Read more
poem by Zbigniew Herbert
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Daedalus And Icarus
Daedalus says:
Go on sonny but remember that you are walking and not flying
the wings are just an ornament and you are stepping on a meadow
that warm gust is just the humid earth of summer
and that cold one is a brook
the sky is full of leaves and small animals
Icarus says:
The eyes like two stones return straight to earth
and see a farmer who knocks asunder oily till
a grub which wiggles in a furrow
bad grub which cuts the bond of a plant with the earth
Daedalus says:
Sonny this is not true The Cosmos is merely light
and earth is a bowl of shadows Look as here colors play
dust rises from above the sea smoke rises to the sky
[...] Read more
poem by Zbigniew Herbert
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
From the Top of the Stairs
Of course
those who are standing at the top of the stairs
know
they know everything
with us it's different
sweepers of squares
hostages of a better future
those at the top of the stairs
appear to us rarely
with a hushing finger always at the mouth
we are patient
our wives darn the sunday shirts
we talk of food rations
soccer prices of shoes
while on saturday we tilt the head backward
and drink
we aren't those
[...] Read more
poem by Zbigniew Herbert
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
The Return of the Proconsul
I’ve decided to return to the emperor’s court
once more I shall see if it’s possible to live there
I could stay here in this remote province
under the full sweet leaves of sycamores
under the rule of sickly nepotists
when I return I don’t intend to commend myself
I shall applaud in measured portions
smile in ounces frown discreetly
for that they will not give me a golden chain
this iron one will suffice
I’ve decided to return tomorrow or the next day
I cannot live among vineyards nothing here is mine
trees have no roots houses no foundations the rain is glassy flowers smell of wax
a dry cloud rattles against the empty sky
so I shall return tomorrow the next day in any case I shall return
I must come to terms with my face again
with my lower lip so it knows how to check scorn
[...] Read more
poem by Zbigniew Herbert
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Three poems by heart
I
I can't find the title
of a memory about you
with a hand torn from darkness
I step on fragments of faces
soft friendly profiles
frozen into a hard contour
circling above my head
empty as a forehead of air
a man's silhouette of black paper
II
living--despite
living- -against
I reproach myself for the sin of forgetfulness
[...] Read more
poem by Zbigniew Herbert
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Elegy of Fortinbras
To C. M.
Now that we’re alone we can talk prince man to man
though you lie on the stairs and see more than a dead ant
nothing but black sun with broken rays
I could never think of your hands without smiling
and now that they lie on the stone like fallen nests
they are as defenceless as before The end is exactly this
The hands lie apart The sword lies apart The head apart
and the knight’s feet in soft slippers
You will have a soldier’s funeral without having been a soldier
they only ritual I am acquainted with a little
There will be no candles no singing only cannon-fuses and bursts
crepe dragged on the pavement helmets boots artillery horses drums
drums I know nothing exquisite
those will be my manoeuvres before I start to rule
one has to take the city by the neck and shake it a bit
Anyhow you had to perish Hamlet you were not for life
[...] Read more
poem by Zbigniew Herbert
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
The Envoy of Mr Cogito
Go where those others went to the dark boundary
for the golden fleece of nothingness your last prize
go upright among those who are on their knees
among those with their backs turned and those toppled in the dust
you were saved not in order to live
you have little time you must give testimony
be courageous when the mind deceives you be courageous
in the final account only this is important
and let your helpless Anger be like the sea
whenever your hear the voice of the insulted and beaten
let you sister Scorn not leave you
for the informers executioners cowards - they will win
they will go to your funeral with relief will throw a lump of earth
the woodborer will write your smoothed-over biography
[...] Read more
poem by Zbigniew Herbert
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
The Trial
During his great speech the prosecutor
kept piercing me with his yellow index finger
I'm afraid I didn't appear self-assured
unintentionally I put on a mask of fear and depravity
like a rat caught in a trap an informer a fratricide
the reporters were dancing a war dance
slowly I burned at a stake of magnesia
all of this took place in a small stifling room
the floor creaked plaster fell from the ceiling
I counted knots in the boards holes in the wall faces
the faces were alike almost identical
policemen the tribunal witnesses the audience
they belonged to the party of those without any pity
and even my defender smiling pleasantly
was an honorary member of the firing squad
in the first row sat an old fat woman
dressed up as my mother with a theatrical gesture she raised
a handkerchief to her dirty eyes but didn't cry
[...] Read more
poem by Zbigniew Herbert
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
The Monster of Mr Cogito
1
Lucky Saint George
from his knight's saddle
could exactly evaluate
the strength and movements of the dragon
the first principle of strategy
is to assess the enemy accurately
Mr Cogito
is in a worse position
he sits in the low
saddle of a valley
covered with thick fog
through fog it is impossible to perceive
fiery eyes
greedy claws
jaws
[...] Read more
poem by Zbigniew Herbert
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
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
- for lying at night near a well in a square in Tarquinia while the swaying
bronze declared from the tower your wrath and forgiveness
and a little donkey on the island of Corcyra sang to mi from
its incredible bellowing lungs the landscape’s melancholy
and in the very ugly city of Manchester I came across
very good and sensible people
nature reiterated her wise tautologies the forest was
forest the sea was sea and rock was rock
stars orbited and things were as they should be – Jovis omnia plena
- forgive me thinking only of myself when the life of
[...] Read more
poem by Zbigniew Herbert
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!