Zbigniew Herbert : MR. COGITO
beware of dryness of heart, love the
morning spring,
the bird with an unknown name,
the winter oak,
the light on the wall, the splendor of the sky.
they do not need your warm breath;
they are there to say: no one will console you….
Maybe I should not have added the punctuation ? I knew him, a great man, Zbigniew Herbert ( he was proud of his English relatives in Poland some centuries ago, his
connection with George Herbert ) , great poet, ironicist , true rebel; faithful to himself.
1980 in West Berlin ( we shared the Berliner Akademischer Austauschdienst as guests of the beleagured city ) we tippled and dined. MR. COGITO is one of the great poems of understatement. There are others. Gives me courage, actually.