![“Unbearable Responsibility”. An Intepretation Proposal for the Poem Dałem Słowo [I Gave My Word] by Zbigniew Herbert Cover Image](/api/image/getissuecoverimage?id=picture_2017_39103.jpg)
„Nieznośna odpowiedzialność”. Propozycja interpretacji wiersza Dałem słowo Zbigniewa Herberta
“Unbearable Responsibility”. An Intepretation Proposal for the Poem Dałem Słowo [I Gave My Word] by Zbigniew Herbert
Author(s): Małgorzata MikołajczakSubject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, Polish Literature
Published by: Towarzystwo Naukowe KUL & Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
Keywords: Zbigniew Herbert; interpretation; mystery from the past; poetic word; PRL (Polish People’s Republic); wordplay; circle of eternal returns; ethical dilemmas; poetic conscience
Summary/Abstract: The article is an attempt at unravelling the mystery hidden in Zbigniew Herbert’s poem Dałem słowo [I Gave My Word], a work from the farewell volume of the poet (Epilog burzy [Epilogue of the Storm], 1998). The author proposes an interpretation based on the assumption that the poem is an autobiographical reflection and the title “word” stands metonymically for the poetic creativity and refers to the literary activity of the poet from before 1956. It shows that by means of an ambivalent dialectic of the weight – lightness and wordplay, Herbert encodes the experience and places memories of the past in the circle of eternal returns, thus confirming the permanence of ethical dilemmas that come to the fore in the poems from the volume Hermes, pies i gwiazda [Hermes, Dog and Star] (1957).
Journal: Roczniki Humanistyczne
- Issue Year: 65/2017
- Issue No: 1
- Page Range: 9-25
- Page Count: 17
- Language: Polish
