Such depths …

In the Ocean such depths there are
That waves surging from below
Reject the lead-tipped rope,
     For here ends the plumb-line’s rule …
Now at the mercy of the sun and stars,
You don’t ask land how the run will end …

1857

Give me a blue ribbon …

Give me a blue ribbon – I will hand it back
Without delay …
Or give me the shadow of your supple neck:
– No! not the shadow.

The shadow will change when you wave,
It does not lie.
Now there is nothing I desire, lovely maid,
I take my arm away …

God’s past rewards
Were lesser things:
A leaf stuck to a window pane,
A drop of rain.

Translated by Adam Czerniawski

Cyprian Norwid, born in 1821 near Warsaw, is one of the most innovative and idiosyncratic figures in Polish literature. His unique poetry is now recognized as among Poland’s finest. Adam Czerniawski’s selection from all phases of the poet’s work beautifully recreate the work of a poet described by Jerzy Peterkiewicz as a great innovator in Polish poetry and a profoundly original sensibility.

This second edition adds a translation of the first poem of the Vade-mecum cycle (‘Hands clapping – now swollen’) and an additiional preface by Adam Czerniawski.

Norwid’s work is introduced by the late Bogdan Czaykowski, the eminent Polish poet, scholar and critic.