I Would Like to Describe by Zbigniew Herbert

Transcript

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I Would Like to Describe By Zbigniew Herbert

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I would like to describe the simplest emotion

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Joy or sadness

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but not as others do

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reaching for shafts of rain or sun

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I would like to describe a light

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which is being born in me

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but I know it does not resemble any star

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for it is not so bright

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not so pure

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and is uncertain

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I would like to describe courage

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without dragging behind me a dusty lion

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and also anxiety

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without shaking a glass full of water

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to put it another way

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I would give all metaphors

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in return for one word

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drawn out of my breast like a rib

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for one word

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contained within the boundaries of my skin

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but apparently this is not possible

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and just to say - I love

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I run around like mad

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picking up handfuls of birds

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and my tenderness

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which after all is not made of water

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asks the water for a face

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and anger

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different from fire

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borrows from it

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a loquacious tongue

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so is blurred

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so is blurred in me

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what white-haired gentlemen

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separated once and for all

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and said

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this is the subject

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and this is the object

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we fall asleep

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with one hand under our head

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and with the other in a mound of planets

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our feet abandon us

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and taste the earth

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with their tiny roots

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which next morning

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we tear out painfully