Authors: Tadeusz Rozewicz

new poems (13 page)

BOOK: new poems

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he walked with lowered head
turned right into Sienna Street

a moment later
I heard shouts laughter
whistling ringing

I looked round
Raskolnikov was kneeling on the roadway
in a puddle of muddy snow
amid horse droppings
the new top hat Sonya bought him
set down on the cobblestones

he kissed the pavement three times made the sign of the cross
crossed himself . . . applause rang out
some guttersnipe knelt by him

I tried to raise him to his feet but he
fended me off gently and stood up
took my arm
and said confidentially
“here you have to avoid
being conspicuous . . .
Details, details
are the thing!
It's details that always
betray Everything . . .”
you to the right and me to the left
or the other way round . . . adieu
mon plaisir . . . till the next time we meet!

I never saw him again

[2004â2005]

depressions II

awakened I touch
my body
my face
the painful places of memory
I touch my skin

touch an alien body

I rub my eyes
but do not wish to open them
opening them
I rise but stay in bed the day rises
I look at my hand
say to myself: “dear lord!”
I hear that in the fields outside Cologne
a million young people
are searching for themselves God faith
the rag (yesterday's paper)
rustles underfoot I rise
start moving but not toward myself

depressions VII

“poor people”

Someone phones me
wants something I explain that
I'm here
that I'm not
that I
it's someone young
younger
he has plans
involving me
I explain that I have no
plans
in my thoughts I say
to myself be patient
polite
those young voices
scratch me
hurt me
those live voices
hurt me
why do young people
yell shout bellow
after all there's no
dudek or maradona here
maÅysz came in 20th or 26th
but he talks quietly
the poor kid

The Gates of Death

to the memory of Henryk Bereska

when I started writing poems
“everyone” was still alive
then they began to depart

the hardest task
is to pass through the gates of death
without the aid of an Angel

believers pass
through the gates of death
with eyes closed
once through
there is a smile on their lips

behind me I have a journey
growing longer
from hour to hour
before me I have
an ever shorter journey

faith in what exists
is knowledge not faith
but faith in what does not exist
is true faith

whoever believes God exists
needs no miracles
faith is the miracle

one who knows that love exists
has a duty to describe it
to let others see its image

The gates of death
The secret of their construction
is that the gates are not there
and at the same time they are
wide open to all
they are so narrow
that they must be squeezed through
in the sweat of one's brow
in bloody labor
for years on end squealing
or screaming in fear

fortunate those who die
in their sleep
their hand taken
by Eurydice
who is immortal
and weeps for she must
live on alone

Notes

THE PROFESSOR'S KNIFE

the professor's knife

I: The Trains

Cyprian Kamil Norwid (1821â1883): the outstanding poet of the late Romantic period in Poland.

II: Columbus' Egg

“sugar fortifies”: Polish advertising slogan from the 1950s. Melchior WaÅkowicz (1892â1979) was a well-known author.

Father Robak and Jankiel: a Catholic priest and a Jewish innkeeper respectively, from the 1834 epic poem
Master Tadeusz
by Adam Mickiewicz (1798â1855): the major poet of the Romantic period. Konrad Wallenrod, a Teutonic knight, was the title character of a long poem by the same author from 1828.

III: Shades

Julian PrzyboÅ(1901â1970): avant-garde poet. BronisÅawa (Bronia) was his wife.

Czarnolas: the country home of Jan Kochanowski (1530â1584), one of Poland's greatest poets, who wrote about sitting under the linden tree in his garden.

IV: The Discovery of the Knife

1968: in March 1968 there were student protests that led to an “anti-Zionist” clampdown by the government, forcing many Polish Jews to leave the country.

Zomo: the riot police.

VI: The Last Age

“
The iron age was last
[. . .]”: from Ovid's
Metamorphoses
(author's note). The translation is adapted from that of A. S. Kline.

“the poet JawieÅ”: pseudonym used by Karol WojtyÅa (1920â2005), who later became Pope John Paul II.

gateway

“stone upon stone . . .”: a children's song.

the mystery of the poem

“Ludwik Solski's Dressing Room”: room in the SÅowacki Theatre in KrakÃ³w, named after the famous Polish actor Ludwik Solski (1855â1954).

Extracts from Useful Books:
anthology of world poetry compiled by CzesÅaw MiÅosz and published in 1994.

GRAY ZONE

gray zone

Antoni KÄpiÅski (1918â1972): eminent psychiatrist and author.

Juliusz SÅowacki (1809â1849): one of the leading poets and dramatists of the Romantic period.

I know nothing about you

White Marriage:
1975 play by RÃ³Å¼ewicz.

Oriole

Monika Å»eromska (1913â2001): memoirist, daughter of Stefan Å»eromski (1864â1925), the preeminent Polish writer of the early 20th century.

“a poem about a rose”: a reference to “Dawn Day and Night with a Red Rose” from
the professor's knife
(author's note).

the Skamander poets: group of poets popular in the interwar period 1918â1939.

(Master Jakob BÃ¶hme)

Zgorzelec and GÃ¶rlitz: adjacent towns on either side of the present Polish-German border.

conversation with Herr Scardanelli

Scardanelli was a pseudonym of the German poet Friedrich HÃ¶lderlin (1770â1843).

the spilling of blood

“caps with four corners”: the four-cornered cap or
rogatywka
is the traditional headwear of Polish soldiers.

EXIT

my old Guardian Angel

“O heavenly angel guardian mine . . .”: a bedtime prayer said by children.

golden thoughts against a black background

“golden thoughts” is a Polish expression meaning something like “quotable quotes.”

Ã la WyspiaÅski

StanisÅaw WyspiaÅski (1869â1907): a KrakÃ³w painter and poet, one of the most significant figures in Polish culture.

Wawel: the former royal castle in KrakÃ³w.

(ever since the “little”)

Albino Luciani: Pope John Paul I, who reigned for thirty-three days in 1978.

heart in mouth

Leopold Staff (1878â1957): outstanding poet of whom Tadeusz RÃ³Åºewicz is particularly fond.

Tadeusz KotarbiÅski (1886â1981): a major Polish philosopher. “three times yes”: reference to a referendum in 1946 in which

the Polish communists sought to legitimize their rule. Roman Ingarden (1893â1970): influential Polish philosopher.

labyrinths

“leÅmianek”: or “little leÅmian,” a reference to BolesÅaw LeÅ-mian (1878â1937), widely regarded as the most important Polish poet of his time. His verse is characterized by complex, innovative uses of language.

tempus fugit

“A cold coming . . .” from “Journey of the Magi” by T. S. Eliot.

“
Fallen
/
angels
/
are like
/ [. . .] /
they fall drop by drop
”: this is the entire text of the poem “Homework on the Topic of Angels” from the poet's 1969 collection
Regio.

“youth give me wings . . .”: lines from “Ode to Youth” by Adam Mickiewicz (1798â1855).

JarosÅaw Iwaszkiewicz (1894â1980): poet and writer, a leading literary figure in the mid-century.

knowledge

This poem is a parody of “PaweÅ and GaweÅ,” a children's poem by comic writer Aleksander Fredro (1793â1876). “Mr. Cogito” frequently appears in the poetry of Zbigniew Herbert (1924â1998).

I rub my eyes

“for bread good sir for bread”: from a popular song about emigration.

Telimena, Master Tadeusz, Robak: characters from Adam Mickiewicz's
Master Tadeusz
(1834).

Emilia Plater (1806â1831): Polish national heroine who fought and died in the 1831 November Uprising.

“painted uhlans”: referring to Polish soldiers (from a popular song)

“our good emperor”: the emperor of Austria-Hungary.

you can't scare me

King WÅadysÅaw the Short (1260â1333): King of Poland from 1320.

RECENT POEMS

depressions VII

Jerzy Dudek: a well-known Polish soccer player.

Adam MaÅysz: a champion ski-jumper.

The Gates of Death

Henryk Bereska (1926â2005): an eminent translator of Polish literature into German.

eISBN : 978-1-935-74450-4

Archipelago Books
25 Jay Street, #203
Brooklyn, New York 11201
www.archipelagobooks.org

the professor's knife
was originally published in Polish by
Wydawnictwo DolnoÅlÄskie as
noÅ¼yk profesora
in 2001.
gray zone
was originally published in Polish by
Wydawnictwo DolnoÅlÄskie as
szara strefa
in 2002
exit
was originally published in Polish by
Wydawnictwo DolnoÅlÄskie as
wyjÅcie
in 2004.

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This publication was made possible by the Lannan Foundation and the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.