Zagajewski, Adam. Without End: New and Selected Poems. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002.
Nancy Pearl mentions “Try to Praise the Mutilated World” in Book Lust in the chapter called, “Polish Poems and Prose” (p 187), but she also recommends the book from which the poem is from, Without End: New and Selected Poems.
I quite enjoyed reading Without End from start to finish. The diversity of poetry within the 270+ pages is refreshing. I especially liked the poet to poet dedications. It’s as if Zagajewski is saying, “from one writer to another, I feel your craft and it influences mine.”
“Try to Praise the Mutilated World” reminds me of Natalie Merchant’s song “Life is Sweet” in that they both try to point out the beauty in the world in spite of the glaring ugliness.
Favorite lines:
“The innkeeper’s daughter was so thin
that she kept bricks in her backpack to outwit the wind…” (p14).
Favorite poem: “Treatise on Emptiness”
A friend and I both agree that this poem moved us in startling and profound ways.
BookLust Twist: From Book Lust in the chapter called, “Polish Poems and Prose” (p 187). Yeah, I know I already said that.
~*LunaSea*~ 