PURSUIT
Wislawa Szymborska
I know I’ll be
greeted by silence, but still.
No uproar, no
fanfare, no applause, but still.
No alarm bells, and
nothing alarming.
I don’t expect even
a shriveled leaf,
to say nothing of
silver palaces and gardens,
venerable elders,
righteous laws,
wisdom in crystal
balls, but still.
I understand that I
don’t walk the moon
in search of
ladies’ rings and vanished ribbons.
They pick
everything up in advance.
Nothing left to
suggest that . . .
Trash, castoffs,
peelings, scraps, crumbs,
chips, shavings,
shards, bits, pieces.
Of course I only
bend over a pebble
that bears no hint
of where they’ve gone.
They don’t like
leaving signs.
They’re peerless in
the art of leaving traces.
I’ve known it for
ages: the gift of vanishing just in time,
their divine
ungraspability by horns or tail,
by the hem of a
robe ballooning in flight.
A hair never falls
from their heads that I might snatch.
They’re always one
thought smarter,
one step ahead, I
can never catch up,
they let me play at
being first.
They aren’t there,
they never were, but still.
I have to keep
telling myself.,
don’t be a child,
stop seeing things.
And whatever just
hopped from underfoot
didn’t get far, it
toppled over, trampled,
and though it stirs
again
and emits a
long-drawn muteness,
It’s a shadow—too
much my own to point the way.
Reaction and
Interpretation
At first, I assumed
the poem was pertaining to pursuits in general. However, after rereading it
several times, the title seemingly appeared to be falling under a particular
category, which is the ‘unconventional’ category of pursuit or something (in
line with career, life choices, activities) that is neutral in nature.
The character in
the poem (I choose not to refer to Szymborska) may be referring to an ephemeral
or long-term pursuit. Initially, readers might have assumed that the character
was driven by impulse or just a pure act of rebellion and defiance, as
suggested in the first stanza.
As mentioned, in
the first stanza, he/she (the character) is strongly compelled by the desire to
carry on despite unfavorable responses, lack of support, let alone
encouragement. Here, the character sounds resilient.
The second stanza
exhibits rebellion or insubordination, denying some authoritative intervention
or of the ‘wise.’
Stanzas 3-5 show
the journey, challenges, encounters during the pursuit. He/ She expresses
dismay as he/ she fails to find hints and signs along the way thus losing
directions.
In the sixth stanza,
heightened emotions are evident. The pursuit becomes a race, a competition
rather than a personal journey. The character also begins relying on other
people for help, which he/she fails to get. Whatever his/ her position in the
race, may it be ahead of others (grasping a horn) or behind (grasping a tail),
the attempt is in vain.
The next stanza
shows self-pity. The character thinks he/ she is being manipulated, being taken
advantage of. People outsmarting one another.
There is a sudden
shift in Stanza 8 as he/ she reminds him/herself of the pursuit, shunning
paranoia.
In the last stanza,
the poem continues to thrive by revealing his/ her introspective character,
from observing external factors to assessing oneself and maybe relying on his/
her own sense of direction.
