The aim of this article is to analyse the poem entitled Widok z ziarnkiem piasku by Wisława Szymborska and its translation into English by Stanisław Barańczak and Clare Cavanagh (View with a Grain of Sand), paying special attention to the key poetics of negation. The article focuses on the problem of “possible worlds.” Looked at from the point of view of linguistics, literary studies, and translation studies, the poem is demonstrative of the variety of forms of negation and their semantic functions used in Szymborska’s entire oeuvre. The conclusion is that Szymborska uses not only negations on the formal, i.e. grammatical level, but also on the semantic and pragmatic levels, and through these conveys the main senses of her poems. The analysis of the English translation shows that the role of negations is similar: the translators use numerous and various forms of formal and semantic negation, but they lack pragmatic negation. The translation thus lacks one of the most central messages of the poem: Szymborska values the richness human existence much more than the empty existence of other beings.

The aim of this article is to analyse the poem entitled Widok z ziarnkiem piasku by Wisława Szymborska and its translation into English by Stanisław Barańczak and Clare Cavanagh (View with a Grain of Sand), paying special attention to the key poetics of negation. The article focuses on the problem of “possible worlds.” Looked at from the point of view of linguistics, literary studies, and translation studies, the poem is demonstrative of the variety of forms of negation and their semantic functions used in Szymborska’s entire oeuvre. The conclusion is that Szymborska uses not only negations on the formal, i.e. grammatical level, but also on the semantic and pragmatic levels, and through these conveys the main senses of her poems. The analysis of the English translation shows that the role of negations is similar: the translators use numerous and various forms of formal and semantic negation, but they lack pragmatic negation. The translation thus lacks one of the most central messages of the poem: Szymborska values the richness human existence much more than the empty existence of other beings.