Dariusz Czaja

Biology lesson

Over the years A View of San Francisco Bay (1969) has proven itself essential both to Miłosz’s life and to his writings. It was here that he formulated, for the fi rst time with such a force, the theses that would later regularly reappear in his essays and poetry. One vital aspect of the intellectual construction outlined in A View of San Francisco Bay was the concept of Nature. Miłosz proposed a “presentistic” approach arguing for the concept of Nature, which he expounded, as an indispensible element of contemporary thought. His refl ections are restricted to selected motifs closely linked with his theses about Nature: Nature and beauty, human/animal relations, and the theory of evolution.
 

Over the years Visions from San Francisco Bay (1969) has proven to be essential both to Miłosz’s life and to his writings. It was there that he formulated, for the fi rst time with such a force, the theses that would later reappear regularly in his essays and poetry. One vital aspect of the intellectual construction outlined in Visions was the concept of Nature. Miłosz proposed a “presentistic” approach, arguing for the concept of Nature as an indispensable element of contemporary thought. His refl ections were restricted to motifs closely related to his theses about Nature: Nature and beauty, human/animal relations, and the theory of evolution.

Rovigo station. Arrivals, departures
Rovigo is the name of small town in the northern part of Italy. No Baedeker, no guide notices the name in its hot list of Italian “miracles”. Rovigo is the common, ordinary place, no spectacular monuments or tourist attractions one can meet there. In this context, it seems to be a bit enigmatic and striking, that the famous poem by Zbigniew Herbert has been entitled after Rovigo (it’s the title of the penultimate set of poems by Herbert, as well). Why Herbert decided to honor such “invisible city” in his poetry? The author brings out the main motives of the poem and tries to delineate deep semantics of the very name Rovigo.

There is probably no doubt, that black thread of mourning deeply penetrates the tissue of Polish life. And this is true for many areas of life. From a specific model of Polish Catholicism (with the strongly expressed theme of a crucified Christ), through behaviour in the public space (funerals of great artists and politicians, which become spectacles of patriotism), through to works of art (theatres filled with spirits of the dead and great movie achievements). For the past two centuries death has been a non-negotiable element of our symbolic equipment, an ideological foundation of the Polish collective imagination. Death in its essence – experienced, shown, played – has occupied a prime position in Polish mythology over the last two centuries. And such mythology, as I understand it here, is not just fiction, falsehood or fabrication. Although it has been woven with beliefs and ideas, it leads a real life of its own and has real power over the thinking and behaviour of those who believe in it.