ws

i have a tendency to discover great gems when i least expect to... e.g. at the bookstore, a wee shop with odds and ends etc. (yes i am really quite random!) i have almost forgotten about this special gem of an inspiration i happen to chance upon in the summer of 1999.... thanks to DimSumDolly's recent blog entry i am happily reminded of this fossicking joy!

i remember being in london that summer in 1999, visiting some old friends and found my way towards Foyles -- possibly one of the largest and well-stocked bookstores in the UK.... having then got more interested in poetry... i wandered into the section which shelved a selection of works from poets i vaguely knew and never-before heard of.... there... whilst pulling a few titles out and prying into their contents, then returning them to their safe hideouts, i caught a glimpse of a hard-back book's cover. it read "Wisława Szymborska Poems New and Collected 1957-1997". i had no idea who this person might be... her name simply cajoled a "pull me out!"... quite unsure of what i was to discover, i gently pulled it out of its location and was to later appreciate that what i was holding in my hands was a treasure.... i recalled pondering and enjoying THE THREE ODDEST WORDS, CLOUDS, PARTING WITH A VIEW, and CLASSIFIEDS; poems that have since become a few of my favourites.

but most precious of all, at least to little nobody me, ... is her thoughts expressed in her Nobel Lecture, translated to English from Polish, which i read with gratitude. and i am glad to be drawn back to it again. while 'Future', 'Silence', and 'Nothing' may be 'The Three Oddest Words', "i don't know" might plausibly be the most potent phrase when those little words are strung together... quoting Szymborska, "[This little phrase]'s small, but it flies on mighty wings. It expands our lives to include spaces within us as well as the outer expanses in which our tiny Earth hangs suspended. " (1996:xiv)....because "The World - .... is astonishing." (xvi) and Wisława offers her views further: "But "astonishing" is an epithet concealing a logical trap. We're astonished, after all, by things that deviate from some well-known and universally acknowledged norm, from an obviousness to which we've grown accustomed. But the point is, there is no such obvious world. Our astonishment exists per se, and it isn't based on a comparison with something else." (ibid)

i am glad to be acquainted with some of Szymborska's works, poems and thoughts.... because a lot of it is provocative, enlightening and a joy to grasp. last summer i discovered her "non-required reading" whilst fossicking for Vanny's Wedding gift with Joan, Des and Van. ... and while i am still slowly crawling my way through it as i usually am with anything readable (i have often wondered if i might actually be dyslexic!), it is indeed another fundst?ck i am happy to share.

posted by ~overacuppa~ on Tuesday, 13 April, 2004 at 22:34 hrs