Elegy for the Departure and Other Poems

by Zbigniew Herbert

Available for the first time in English, Elegy for the Departure and Other Poems is an important collection from the late Zbigniew Herbert. Translated from the Polish by award-winning translators John and Bogdana Carpenter, these sixty-eight verse and prose poems span forty years of Herbert's incredible life and work. The pieces are organized chronologically from 1950 to 1990, with an emphasis on the writer's early and late poems.

Here Zbigniew Herbert's poetry turns from the public--what we have come to expect from this poet--to the more personal. The title poem, "Elegy for the Departure of Pen Ink and Lamp , is a three-part farewell ode to the inanimate objects and memories of childhood. Herbert reflects on the relationship between the living and the dead in "What Our Dead Do," the state of his homeland in "Country," and the power of language in "We fall asleep on words . . . " Herbert's short prose poems read like aphorisms, deceptively whimsical but always wise: "Bears are divided into brown and white, also paws, head, and trunk. They have nice snouts, and small eyes.... Children who love Winnie-the-Pooh would give them anything, but a hunter walks in the forest and aims with his rifle between that pair of small eyes."

Elegy for the Departure and Other Poems confirms Zbigniew Herbert's place as one of the world's greatest and most influential poets.

Genres: Poetry, Polish Literature, Poland

144 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1990

About the author

Zbigniew Herbert was a Polish poet, essayist, drama writer, author of plays, and moralist. He was also a member of the Polish resistance movement. Herbert is one of the best known and the most translated post-war Polish writers, and has been nominated several times for the Nobel Prize in literature.

Reviews

[Tyler Malone · Rating 5 out of 5]

A damn fine translation of a damn fine collection. The poetry found towards the end of the collection is some of the best a reader could hope to encounter. I would probably recommend this collection more than the newer collected book -- the one with the black cover, where Zbigniew looks like he just killed a man, so he's enjoying a well-deserved after-death cigarette -- mostly because of the better translations found in "Elegy For The Departure"

[Paula Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeżeli wybierasz się w podróż niech będzie to podróż długa
wędrowanie pozornie bez celu błądzenie po omacku
żebyś nie tylko oczami ale także dotykiem poznał szorstkość ziemi
i abyś całą skórą zmierzył się ze światem


erudycyjna, bezkompromisowa, pełna nawiązań literackich, kulturowych i historycznych, przenikająca człowieka poezja.

[Martyna · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5
No powiem, ze ten juz byl lepszy. Moja ignorancja w ocenach innych wywodzila z tego ze czytalam je w malo sprzyjajacycg warunkach, co znacznie utrudnialo skupienie. Znalazlam jeden wiersz ktory mnie sie bardzo spodobal i bede go recytowac na konkursie takze nice (podroz). Herbert coraz bardziej mi sie podoba. Zaczynam to zauwazc takze kiedys w przyazlosci zapewne bede obcowac z jego tomikami.

[Wiktoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5⭐️

[Paddyspub · Rating 4 out of 5]

7.5/10

Enjoyable poems. Some I was unable to understand.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reminds me of all of the reasons why I love literature. Like Imre Kertesz, Herbert lived through two "disaster times" back to back: the Nazi invasion of Poland and the subsequent Russian regime's occupation after the fall of the Third Reich. I cannot imagine the dejection he must have felt watching his entire world become overaken and structured by two extended periods of murderous irrationality.

Interested parties should consider this poem, "An Answer," undoubtedly my favorite in the collection: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/...

It's ridiculous that Herbert was never awarded the Nobel prize.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have long loved the poet Zbigniew Herbert, a Polish poet who I think of as an even more esoteric Milosz (whom I also enjoy). I am a big fan of Polish poetry, and in the work of Herbert everything I like about it comes to complete fruition. I hope that when I die people read his poems at my funeral. I am also a huge fan of his poetry as found in his book "Report from the Besieged City." I recommend that book as a good introduction to all his work.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Between this and Facing the River by Milosz, I am ready to read some poems not involving the imminence of death. No matter how much one likes old man poetry, at a certain point, one gets fierce nervous about mortality.

[Jenni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Translation. Excellent.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book redefined my writing ambitions. it's utterly clear, concise and powerful.

[S]

1924-1998

Some moves almost exact mimicry of surrealists or Neruda

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be my favorite poet and my favorite collection

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't think of a single living poet writing in English who impresses me half as much as this Polish poet in English translation. Skip him at your peril.