Seen from above
Translated by Stanislaw
Baranczak and Clare Cavanagh
A dead beetle lies on the path through the field.
Three pairs of legs folded neatly on its belly.
Instead of death's confusion, tidiness and order.
The horror of this sight is moderate,
its scope is strictly local, from the wheat grass to the mint.
The grief is quarantined.
The sky is blue. To preserve our peace of mind, animals die
more shallowly: they aren't deceased, they're dead.
They leave behind, we'd like to think, less feeling and less world,
departing, we suppose, from a stage less tragic.
Their meek souls never haunt us in the dark,
they know their place,
they show respect.
And so the dead beetle on the path
lies unmourned and shining in the sun.
One glance at it will do for meditation --
clearly nothing much has happened to it.
Important matters are reserved for us,
for our life and our death, a death
that always claims the right of way.
Three pairs of legs folded neatly on its belly.
Instead of death's confusion, tidiness and order.
The horror of this sight is moderate,
its scope is strictly local, from the wheat grass to the mint.
The grief is quarantined.
The sky is blue. To preserve our peace of mind, animals die
more shallowly: they aren't deceased, they're dead.
They leave behind, we'd like to think, less feeling and less world,
departing, we suppose, from a stage less tragic.
Their meek souls never haunt us in the dark,
they know their place,
they show respect.
And so the dead beetle on the path
lies unmourned and shining in the sun.
One glance at it will do for meditation --
clearly nothing much has happened to it.
Important matters are reserved for us,
for our life and our death, a death
that always claims the right of way.
About the author:
_
Szymborska was born on July 2nd, 1923 in Bnin (now Kórnik), Poland and passed
away on February 1st, 2012 in Kraków, Poland at the age of 88. Szymborska was not only a poet, but also a translator, essayist, editor, and a columnist. She also won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1996. Much of work began during Poland’s communist regime. Many would
describe Szymborska as a “Mozart of Poetry” because her pieces came together
with an easy flow. Wislawa Szymborska wrote about 400 poems, most were simple,
subtle, and meaningful. She was able to use simple items, such as bugs, onions,
or even a cat, to depict greater and more sensitive subjects in life.
There was not a specific rationale for Szymborska’s “Seen From Above” poem. However, Szymborska has been known for her use of symbolism throughout her poems to demonstrate important aspects of life, including death and love. Her use of a beetle must have been triggered by a personal encounter before turning it into an important symbol in her poem.
According to the nobelprize.org, Szymborska's motivation for her prize was "for poetry that with ironic precision allows the historical and biological context to come to light in fragments of human reality".
There was not a specific rationale for Szymborska’s “Seen From Above” poem. However, Szymborska has been known for her use of symbolism throughout her poems to demonstrate important aspects of life, including death and love. Her use of a beetle must have been triggered by a personal encounter before turning it into an important symbol in her poem.
According to the nobelprize.org, Szymborska's motivation for her prize was "for poetry that with ironic precision allows the historical and biological context to come to light in fragments of human reality".