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Title details for The Collected Poems by Zbigniew Herbert - Available

The Collected Poems

1956–1998

by Zbigniew Herbert
ebook
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"Herbert's work in twentieth-century letters . . . rivals that of W. H. Auden or Elizabeth Bishop in its originality, imaginative breadth and humane vigilance." —The Washington Post
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
This outstanding new translation brings a uniformity of voice to Zbigniew Herbert's entire poetic output, from his first book of poems, String of Light, in 1956, to his final volume, previously unpublished in English, Epilogue of the Storm. The Collected Poems: 1956-1998, as Joseph Brodsky said of Herbert's Selected Poems, is "bound for a much longer haul than any of us can anticipate." He continues, "For Zbigniew Herbert's poetry adds to the biography of civilization the sensibility of a man not defeated by the century that has been most thorough, most effective in dehumanization of the species. Herbert's irony, his austere reserve and his compassion, the lucidity of his lyricism, the intensity of his sentiment toward classical antiquity, are not just trappings of a modern poet, but the necessary armor—in his case well-tempered and shining indeed—for man not to be crushed by the onslaught of reality. By offering to his readers neither aesthetic nor ethical discount, this poet, in fact, saves them from that poverty which every form of human evil finds so congenial. As long as the species exists, this book will be timely."
"Now, nearly ten years after his death, Herbert's voice is gathered, uncensored and unimaginably strong, in one dynamic volume." —San Francisco Chronicle
"English readers have cause for celebration." —The Philadelphia Inquirer
"Finally, the work of this powerful master of twentieth-century literature is all in one place." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    June 11, 2024

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780062046154

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780062046154
      • File size: 2787 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from January 22, 2007
      Herbert (1924–1998) lived to witness his hometown of Lwów, Poland, occupied by the Soviets in 1939, the Nazis in 1941, and the Soviets again in 1944. This exposure to systematic and violent oppression awakened in Herbert a protective and motivating skepticism that pervades all his poetry: "If you put trust in your five senses/ the world contracts into a hazelnut." This impeccably, newly translated and edited volume finds Herbert, strongly anticommunist throughout his life, determined to resist the reduction of the human to anything easily measured, manipulated and forgotten, even if history keeps reminding us that "only our dreams have not been humiliated." Tender, wary, melancholy and wry, the poems visit ideas of redemption as one might visit a grave site, i.e., knowing that what you seek can only be experienced in the heart and mind. If one attempts through poetry to "offer to the betrayed world / a rose," Herbert's world-weary, tragicomic alter-ego, Mr. Cogito—one of last century's most memorable poetic personages–warns us that the gesture will probably go unnoticed, especially in an age when even "the temple of freedom/ has been turned into a flea market." Finally, the work of this powerful master of 20th-century literature is all in one place.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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