[1267] A Contribution to Statistics

Guest poem sent in by Sashidhar Dandamudi <sashi@>

Out of a hundred people

those who always know better
-fifty-two

doubting every step
-nearly all the rest,

glad to lend a hand
if it doesn't take too long
-as high as forty-nine,

always good
because they can't be otherwise
-four, well maybe five,

able to admire without envy
-eighteen,

suffering illusions
induced by fleeting youth
-sixty, give or take a few,

not to be taken lightly
-forty and four,

living in constant fear
of someone or something
-seventy-seven,

capable of happiness
-twenty-something tops,

harmless singly, savage in crowds
-half at least,

cruel
when forced by circumstances
-better not to know
even ballpark figures,

wise after the fact
-just a couple more
than wise before it,

taking only things from life
-thirty
(I wish I were wrong),

hunched in pain,
no flashlight in the dark
-eighty-three
sooner or later,

righteous
-thirty-five, which is a lot,

righteous
and understanding
-three,

worthy of compassion
-ninety-nine,

mortal
-a hundred out of a hundred.
thus far this figure still remains unchanged.

	-- Wislawa Szymborska

Comments:

Since today's poem by Seth (Poem #1226) to me read like a "listing", I
remembered this poem by Szymborska (phew! they should ask this in a
Spelling Bee), which I was reading the other night from the latest
anthology of the Favorite Poem Project. Well, no more commentry because
the poem speaks for itself.

Sashi

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From: "Flower Child" <sonya.j.sowerby@>

Can someone explain "taking only things from life"?  I don't understand.

~Sonya

From: "John K. Taber" <jktaber@>

> Szymborska (phew! they should ask this in a Spelling Bee),

Hello Sashi.

Szymborska's last name is not difficult. Polish
represents the "sh" sound with "sz", and the
"ch" sound with "cz".

The "y" in her name I suspect is difficult. But it's
ok as "shimborska."

The "a" ending is feminine, and prevalent in Slavic
names.

And her first name I never got straight. The "l"
has a slash through it in Polish. I have heard it
pronounced, but can't reproduce it.

I love her poems.

John K. Taber

From: lists <lists@>

"Flower Child" <sonya.j.sowerby@> Sonya posted:

Can someone explain "taking only things from life"?  I don't understand.



This line, in Joanna Trzeciak's translation, says:

"Getting nothing out of life except things:
thirty
(though I would like to be wrong)."

Although I generally like the translations by Stanislaw Baranczak and 
Clare Cavanagh, it's worth checking Trzeciak's and any others you can 
find. Szymborska is a poet I've only recently discovered, and she is 
a marvel. Wry, witty, ironic, at times fierce---there are wonderful 
depths once you get past the deceptively simply surface of her poems.

Check out "A Moment in Troy," among many others.

George

From: Jedrek <j_bur@>

On spelling Szymborska's name - L should be crossed, which makes it a 
sound like W in words like 'we', 'welcome', 'words' etc. , or u in 
'suede'. Y in her second name is difficult to explain to an 
English-speaking person, it is a hard I. Transcripted into English 
phonetics it could be somethink like Veesuava Shimborska.

It is not a difficult word. Try chrzaszcz (a beetle), Szczebrzeszyn 
(name of a city) and skrzypce (violin).

Greetings,
Jedrek