Young Poets of a New Poland: An Anthology

by Donald Pirie (Translator), Donald Pirie (Translator)

Poland (and the world) changed during the 1980s - and so did Polish poets. For five decades their rich and powerful verse was sensitive to human oppression and political manipulation, reminding Western writers of the physical reality of the price of morality and truth, the exposure of falsities and resistance to evil, in a political situation that seemed hopelessly unlikely to change. The verse contained in this anthology tracks the startlingly different directions leading from the worthy 'politically correct' anti-Communist writing of the 1970s and early 1980s.
Polish poetry foresaw the inevitable escape from the dark cave into blinding light of day. Sensing the imminent collapse of the fictional monolith that was Communist Eastern Europe, Polish poets embarked on fantastic journeys exploring the uncharted areas of a post-ideological 'new world order', looking with fresh eyes at landscapes, relationships and assumptions that had seemed so fixed and so familiar. The new, young Polish poetry is discovering endless 'singularities' and refuses to be classified in easy political or psychological cliches, just as the Polish language has been undergoing revolutionary change in the last ten years. The results of these investigations and revelations are as spectacular as they are unexpected.

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Kristyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection provides insight into the mindset of the Polish poets writing in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I most appreciated the poems of Bronisław Maj, which were reflective and powerful, and "Eternity's Flow," by Jan Polkowski, which upholds the importance of words and naming. Paweł Marcinkiewicz also had some strong poems, especially, "the night is so dark --and you have inside you..."