“The Sense of Form” in the Poetry of Wisława Szymborska and Czesław Miłosz

• Authors: Joanna Grądziel-Wójcik

Title variants

PL

„Zmysł formy” w poezji Wisławy Szymborskiej i Czesława Miłosza

• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The article addresses the sources behind the poems of Wisława Szymborska and Czesław Miłosz. The focal point of Miłosz’s poetry is the concept of Entirety, which is intertwined with his religious worldview, whereas the world in Szymborska’s poetry lacks a metaphysical structure based on a number of divine certainties. These fundamental differences are observed in the metrical decisions made as the shape of the poem becomes a test for the infinite, remaining outside reality. For both authors “the order, rhythm, form” seem to be the reasons for the existence of poetry and as such protect it from chaos and nothingness. However, Szymborska “thinks in verse” differently from Miłosz, undertaking her own “struggle with a poem.” This aspect of her work is analyzed in the article with reference to “I’m working on the world” and “Vermeer.”

Keywords

EN

Czesław Miłosz; Wisława Szymborska; Polish poetry of XX century; poem

PL

Czesław Miłosz; Wisława Szymborska; poezja polska w XX wieku; utwór poetycki

• Publisher: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
• Journal: Prace Filologiczne. Literaturoznawstwo
• Year: 2013
• Issue: 3(6) cz.1
• Pages: 91-106

Dates

published

2019-10-01

Contributors

author

Joanna Grądziel-Wójcik

• Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu