Zbigniew Herbert: Creating poetry from the ruins

Abstract

The Polish poet Zbigniew Herbert (1924–1998) survived wartime trauma and the devastation of his city and country, secret police scrutiny, post-war Communist oppression, and poverty, while suffering from severe chronic pulmonary disease and severe mood swings. His poetry, however, is filled with elegy, tenderness, faithfulness, wit, dignity, catharsis, and the renewal of tradition as a profound bow to everyday humanity. Herbert responded to trauma and loss by emphasizing that the poet lives “in the treasure house of all misfortunes,” confronting the past and confronting lies, remembering individuals and particular details, writing from the ruins. He instructs us in an essential link between suffering and imagination.