Wiersz − złożony sens
A Poem − Elaborate Meaning

Summary/Abstract: It is widely held, that the meaning of a poem is shaped by lexical and syntactic elements, while in the case of Stanisław Baran´czak’s Południe one can observe that its meaning is also enriched by versification, sound, and graphic elements. Features such as: i) phrases which crystallize the metaphor Z˙ YCIE TO DROGA / WE˛DRO´WKA / PODRO´Z˙ (life as a way / journey); ii) the graphic image (the poem has the shape of an hourglass); iii) morphological construction (one long sentence which is not finished with a full stop or any equivalent punctuation mark; iv) enjambment as a constructional basis of the poem; v) the order of initial, internal and tail rhymes, all of these elements clearly express the continuity of human journey. On the one hand, in the poem one can see the awareness of connections between various elements of life; while on the other, there is also the awareness of transience and one’s own finiteness. The lack of punctuation mark at the end of the poem is also semantically rich and may be understood as an expression of faith in the fact that death is only a stage of one’s existence.

• Details
• Contents