Astonishment (p.

177)

Wislawa Szymborska’s Astonishment consists of 16 lines, and it does not have any
noticeable pattern or rhyming scheme. This poem can be classified as ‘free verse’, as the poem
also does not have a consistent meter. Throughout the poem, Szymborska places an emphasis
on the nature of human life, and how unique it is. She also makes references to how we do not
know the origins of human life, and hence, she questions why certain aspects of human life
exist in these distinctive forms. For example, Szymborska writes: “Why, after all, this one and
not the rest?”, and “Why this specific self, not in a nest, but in a house?”. This is then followed
by a comparison made between animal life and human life. This occurs as Szymborska writes:
“Sewn up not in scales, but skin?”. This is a metaphor, and it indirectly compares the scales of a
fish to the skin of a human. Another metaphor is made in line 4, which makes the same
comparison, but this time, with trees and plants: “Not topped of by a leaf, but by a face?”.
As the poem progresses onward from line 4, Szymborska’s philosophical point of view
towards the existence of nature and life on the planet becomes more evident. This is due to the
questions becoming seemingly vaguer and broader, and they shift perspective from a small
scale (such as fishes, leaves on trees) to a much larger scale. This is evident as Szymborska
writes: “And why on Earth now, Tuesday of all days, and why on earth, pinned down by this
star’s pin?”. Additional lines which further question human existence on a broader perspective
include: “In spite of years of my not being here”, “In spite of seas of all these dates and fates,
these cells, celestials and coelenterates?”. In these lines, the persona in the poem refers to
herself for the first time explicitly, due to line 7 (“my not being here”). This line could suggest
that human existence in the universe is so rare, and that the universe has been developing and
progressing eons before she was even here. So, this may suggest that the human presence and
existence in the cosmos could have been an accident. This may also further emphasize how
insignificant humans are compared to the size of the universe. Lines 7-12 are also very
retrospective, as they imply that the universe was still carrying out its daily duties before the
persona existed. (“What is it that really made me appear neither an inch nor half a globe too
far”).
In the last few lines of the poem (lines 13-16), Szymborska enunciates how her
questions yield no answers, because the origins of human existence in the universe are simply
not known. The image of staring into the dark also emphasizes the poet’s ignorance as she
throws out her various questions, despite the lack of hope of a response. The persona also
compares herself to a dog, as Szymborska writes: “Why am I staring now into the dark and
muttering the unending monologue just like the growling thing we call a dog?”. By writing in
this manner, Szymborska sheds light on the fact that there will always be infinite questions
regarding our existence, but never enough answers. This is then compared to the growling of a
dog, as it is instinct for them to bark and growl, no matter how much you train then to stop.
This resonates with the idea of questioning our existence, as we will always have the thoughts
and curiosity, but it seems as though we will never uncover the mystery, despite continued
efforts of speculation and theory.