The Collected Poems, 1956-1998 Quotes

“A craftsman must probe to the very bottom of cruelty.”
― Zbigniew Herbert, The Collected Poems, 1956-1998

“Lord
I thank you for creating the world beautiful and various

and for allowing me in Your fathomless goodness to visit places which were not the sites of my daily torments”
― Zbigniew Herbert, The Collected Poems, 1956-1998

“go upright among those who are down on their knees
those with their backs turned those toppled in the dust

you have survived not so that you might live
you have little time you must give testimony

be courageous when reason fails you be courageous
in the final reckoning it is the only thing that counts

and your helpless Anger - may it be like the sea
whenever you hear the voice of the insulted and beaten”
― Zbigniew Herbert, The Collected Poems, 1956-1998

“there's a terrible silence
before a predator's night

sometimes
an absurd airplane
appears in the sky

it throws out leaflets
calling for surrender

I would be happy to surrender
but I've no one to surrender to”
― Zbigniew Herbert, The Collected Poems, 1956-1998

“Ta książ­ka ła­god­nie mnie na­po­mi­na nie po­zwa­la
bym zbyt szyb­ko biegł w takt to­czą­cej się fra­zy
każe wró­cić do po­cząt­ku wciąż za­czy­nać od nowa”
― Zbigniew Herbert, The Collected Poems, 1956-1998

“When it hurts we return to the banks of certain rivers. — Czeslaw Milosz, from “I Sleep A Lot,” The Collected Poems 1931— 1987. (The Ecco Press; First Edition edition 1988)”
― Czesław Miłosz, The Collected Poems, 1956-1998

“cemeteries grow larger the number of defenders shrinks
but the defense continues and will last to the end
and even if the City falls and one of us survives
he will carry the City inside him on the roads of exile
he will be the City

we look at the face of hunger the face of fire the face of death
and the worst of them all—the face of treason

and only our dreams have not been humiliated”
― Zbigniew Herbert, The Collected Poems, 1956-1998

“... nuestros ojos reflejan una pregunta
apacible como un espejo
que ya no enmohece el aliento

cada día renuevo mi mirar
cada día va creciendo mi tacto
con el cosquilleo de la cercanía de tantas cosas.”
― Zbigniew Herbert, Poesía completa

“he no longer dreams of flight
but of a fall
that draws like lightning
a profile of infinity”
― Zbigniew Herbert, The Collected Poems, 1956-1998