Zbigniew Herbert

Biography

1924–1956

Zbigniew Herbert was born on 29 October 1924 to Boleslaw Herbert and his wife Maria, née Kaniak. Herbert's Austrian ancestor came to Galicia from Vienna around the turn of the 18th and 19th century. The poet's father was a soldier in the Polish Legions during World War I and a defender of Lwów; he was a lawyer and worked as a bank manager. Herbert's grandmother was Armenian; his grandfather was an English language teacher.

Herbert claimed to be a distant relative of the 17th-century Anglo-Welsh poet George Herbert.

Before the war Zbigniew Herbert attended the Państwowe VIII Gimnazjum i Liceum im. Króla Kazimierza Wielkiego we Lwowie (during the Soviet occupation the name was changed to High School nr 14). After the German and Soviet invasion and subsequent occupation of Lwów, he continued his studies at the secret meetings organized by the Polish underground, where he graduated and passed the school leaving exam (matura) in January 1944. At the same time, (following the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939) he got involved in conspiratorial action with the AK. During the occupation, he worked as a louse-feeder in the Rudolf Weigl Institute that produced anti-typhus vaccines; he also worked as a salesman in a shop with metal articles. He began Polish philology studies at the secret University of Jan Kazimierz in Lwów but had to break them off as a result of moving to Kraków (spring 1944, before the invasion of the Soviet Red Army in Lwów). Lwów after the war became a Ukrainian Soviet city, no longer within Polish borders. Its previous Polish population had been expelled. The loss of his beloved hometown, and the following feeling of being uprooted, were important motifs in his later works.

At first, he lived in Proszowice, near Kraków (May 1944 – January 1945). Herbert studied economics in Kraków and attended lectures at the Jagiellonian University and at the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1947, after three years of study, he got his Trade Academy diploma. He lived in Sopot (from 1948), where his parents moved in 1946. He worked different jobs; in the Polish National Bank (NBP) in Gdynia (1 March – 30 June 1948), as a sub-editor of the journal Przegląd Kupiecki, and in Gdańsk department of the Polish Writers' Union (ZLP). He met Halina Misiołkowa there (their relationship lasted until 1957). In 1948 he became a member-candidate of the ZLP but resigned in 1951; however, he joined the union again in 1955.

While living in Sopot, he continued his law studies at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, where he received a Master of Law. In the same year he was carried on the list on the second year of Philosophy at NCU in Toruń, where he was inter alia a student of his later master, Henryk Elzenberg. In 1949 Herbert moved to Toruń, and worked in the District Museum and in primary school as a teacher.

1956–1981

The year 1956 in Poland marked the end of Stalinism and as a result also of social realism as the only and obligatory style in art and literature. This enabled Herbert's debut as a poet. Thanks to this, his material position also improved.

In 1957 supported by Jerzy Zawieyski he received a small studio to live in (in Warsaw) one of the flats distributed for young writers by the Polish Union of Writers (ZLP). He also was granted a scholarship (US$100) that allowed him to go on his first trip abroad.

Herbert was attached to his homeland, but at the same time was deeply disgusted by all effects (political, economical, cultural etc.) of the communist rules enforced by the Soviet Union on Poland (arguably the best artistic expression of this disgust is contained in his poem "The Power of Taste"). Therefore, a will to escape from this gloomy reality and see "a better world" was one of important driving forces behind his passion for traveling.

Even though he spent a great deal of time abroad he never wanted to choose the life of an émigré. Despite administrative difficulties imposed by the communist regime with regard to longer stays abroad he always tried to extend his Polish passport while abroad so that the possibility of coming back home was always open.

His first lively impressions from his trips and reflections triggered by the direct contact with the cultural heritage of the Western Europe were enclosed in the essay "The Barbarian in the Garden" (Barbarzyńca w Ogrodzie, 1962). He also says in his poem The Prayer of Mr. Cogito – The Traveller (Modlitwa Pana Cogito – podróżnika) travelling allowed him to get to know better the world beautiful and of such variety.

Herbert's trips cost as little as possible, as a poet's finances (from not stable sources: prizes, honorariums for the readings etc.) were very limited. This way of life contributed to his weak health condition in the future; however,

he traveled through Vienna to France (May 1958 – January 1959), he visited England (January – March 1959), Italy (June – July 1959) and then France again. He came to Poland in May 1960. The result of that journey was the essay Barbarzyńca w ogrodzie (The Barbarian in the Garden).

1981–1998

Herbert came back to Poland at the beginning of 1981 – in the short period of the legal existence of Solidarity, the only independent mass organization in the Soviet bloc. At that time he joined the editorial team of the underground journal Zapis (Record). At the time of the martial law he supported the opposition personally, under his own name – he attended the secret meetings and published in 'second circulation'. His writings have become the manifesto of freedom, the expression of the resistance and the poet himself has become the symbol of uncompromised objection, especially for the young people. Przemysław Gintrowski played a huge role in presenting Herbert to the contemporary audience. Together with Jacek Kaczmarski and Zbigniew Łapiński, he composed the music to the poet's writings and performed it on stage. Herbert himself wasn't pleased with these doings at the beginning. However, later he accepted them and joked that he "writes lyrics for Gintrowski".

In 1986 Herbert moved to Paris. In 1989 he joined the Polish Writers' Association (Stowarzyszenie Pisarzy Polskich). A year later he became a member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. In 1991, receiving the Jerusalem Prize gave Herbert another reason to travel to Israel for a while. There he befriended Yehuda Amichai and wrote a poem about him.

"To Yehuda Amichai,

Because you are a king and I'm only a prince"...

In 1992 the seriously ill poet returned to Warsaw. The fierce anti-communist journalism of Tygodnik Solidarność (1994, # 41) and supporting the statement of the editorial office of Arka magazine about the decommunisation of the elites stoked the controversy among Herbert's opposition friends. He praised the Cold War anti-communist spy Colonel Ryszard Kukliński in an open letter to then president Lech Wałęsa in 1994, and later also expressed support for the Chechen Dzjochar Dudajev. He also organized the financial aid for Chechnya. This wasn't his only initiative. Earlier in an open letter to U.S. President George H. W. Bush he criticized the indifference towards the situation of Kurds. What is more, he supported the investigation of Liga Republikańska (Republican League) in the case of assassination of Stanisław Pyjas and advocated revealing the UB (Office of Security) files from 1956. In 1994 in the interview for Tygodnik Solidarność he criticized not only the Round Table Agreement and the politics of the Third Polish Republic (III Rzeczpospolita), but also accused some prominent public figures, such as Czesław Miłosz and Adam Michnik as being personally responsible for the country's difficulties. These controversial opinions prompted counter-polemics that would continue even after Herbert's death. This conflict has its roots in different judgments on the communist regime in Poland at the time of the People's Republic of Poland.

Writing

Poetry

The first poems by Zbigniew Herbert were published in Dziś i jutro (#37, 1950). Poems entitled: Napis (Inscription), Pożegnanie września and Złoty środek were printed, however, without the permission of the author. The real debut occurred at the end of the same year with the publishing of a poem without a title (Palce wrzeciona dźwięków…) in Tygodnik Powszechny (#51). Prior to 1955 the poet published some of his works in that newspaper; however, he kept out of the literary environment. Not having the opportunity to publish his own volume of poetry, he decided to publish 22 poems in an anthology of modern Catholic poetry, …każdej chwili wybierać muszę… (Warsaw, 1954).

Herbert was introduced to a wider audience in Premiera pięciu poetów (The debut of five poets) in the magazine Życie Literackie (#51, December 1955). He was presented together with other young poets, such as Miron Białoszewski, Bohdan Drozdowski, Stanisław Czycz and Jerzy Harasymowicz. In 1956 he published his debut book of poetry Struna światła (Chord of Light) and a year later a further volume Hermes, pies i gwiazda (Hermes, Dog and Star). Herbert's relatively late debut meant that he belonged to the modern generation in literature which appeared after 1956, whereas biographically he belonged to the same generation as Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński and Tadeusz Różewicz.

Another two books of poetry: Studium przedmiotu (Study of the Object) and Napis (Inscription) were published in 1961 and 1969. In 1974 the main character from another book of poetry Pan Cogito (Mr. Cogito) appeared in Polish culture. The character of Pan Cogito also appeared in later works of the author. Herbert liked to use poetic personae (which cannot be identified with the author) and multistage irony – the introduction of a character favoured the game played by the author between himself and the reader.

In 1983 the Literary Institute in Paris published another book of poetry by Herbert entitled Raport z oblężonego Miasta i inne wiersze (Report from a Besieged City and Other Poems). In Poland it was reprinted by underground publishing houses. The time and the circumstances favored a literal understanding of the poem's title, which led to simplistic interpretations of the poem. Another book of poems Elegia na odejście (Elegy for the Departure) (1990) was also published in Paris. In 1992, back in Poland, Herbert published Rovigo (Wrocław). Finally, the poet's last work, Epilog burzy (Epilogue to a Storm), came out shortly before his death.

Essays

Barbarzyńca w ogrodzie (Barbarian in the Garden), the result of Herbert's first trip abroad, was published in 1962. It is composed of essays which describe particular places and things that have been seen by the poet, as well as two historical essays – accounts of the Albigensians and the persecution of the Templar order. The journey takes place in two dimensions simultaneously – it is both contemporary travel and time travel. The latter starts with prehistory, in the Lascaux caves, and travels through the age of Greek and Roman antiquity, the days of Gothic cathedrals, Renaissance painting and sentimental gardens. The journey becomes fascinating because the traveler shares with his readers the knowledge of both the less and the more serious history of the places, items and people portrayed in the essays. Herbert himself defined it as a journey not only to places, but also to books.

The Albigensian crusade and the collapse of the Knights Templars absorbed Herbert not because of their peculiarity, but quite the opposite, namely because of their ubiquity in history. Both are described by the poet with proper respect for historical detail and the drama of the individuals involved, thereby revealing the timeless mechanisms of crime.

Another collection of essays, Martwa natura z wędzidłem (Still Life with a Bridle), published in 1993, is devoted to seventeenth-century Dutch painting. Just as in Barbarzyńca w ogrodzie, here widely accepted assessments have no impact on the author's personal preferences. Among Dutch painters, the one who fascinates Herbert the most is the hardly known Torrentius, whose work Martwa natura z wędzidłem is the only one to be preserved. In this volume of essays the figure of the traveler is less noticeable than previously. But people still arouse Herbert's interest – not only painters, but also those who were buying and often ordering their works – since Dutch painting is typical of a certain civilization and could not exist in any other place or time.

Although written much earlier than Martwa natura z wędzidłem, the last volume of essays Labirynt nad morzem (Labyrinth on the Sea-Shore) was published only after the poet's death. Herbert gave this volume to the Czytelnik publishing house in 1968, but later withdrew it. Labirynt nad morzem consists mainly of essays devoted to ancient Greek culture and history, as well as in a lesser degree to the Etruscans and the Roman legionnaires from Hadrian's wall. This time, however, the traveler seems not to be seeking his own way – he deals with cultural monuments such as the Acropolis of Athens or Knossos. Yet when addressing the history of Greece, Herbert focuses on episodes which occupy few pages in textbooks, and subverts established patterns. He shows how Pericles' policy towards Samos became the beginning of the end of not only the union of Greek cities but also of Athenian democracy. The assessments of history are reviewed in the same way as in the poetry – by changing the perspective, rejecting the winners' point of view. It is in Labirynt nad morzem where this is most visible.

Dramas

All Herbert's dramas were written relatively early. The first four dramas were written between the years 1956 and 1961; the last one, the monodrama Listy naszych czytelników (Letters from Our Readers), was written in 1972. Some of these works were created as radio plays, or later, adapted for radio. We can observe this in their structure as tension is produced mainly by means of sound (main characters' voices, sounds in the background, or silence); other theatrical devices appear to a lesser degree. The poet himself used the term "drama for voices".

Jaskinia filozofów (Cave of Philosophers), probably the most valued among all Herbert's dramas, and Rekonstrukcja poety (The Reconstruction of the Poet), deal with antiquity. The plot of Jaskinia filozofów is set in an Athenian prison cell, where the main character, Socrates, waits for his death sentence. Conversations held with his students, wife and warder let him conduct an examination of his life. However, this is not the only theme brought up in the drama. Socrates could easily escape if he wants, as the death penalty was intended to be token. Those by whom he was sentenced presume that he will escape, and they see to it that he has that possibility. Yet the philosopher does not reconcile himself to the hypocrisy of freedom without actual freedom – he goes to extremes and finally resigns himself to death. Rekonstrukcja poety refers to Homer. The author of great epics, being already blind, alters his view into something vital and worthy of interest – he no longer deals with the clamor of battle, but with detail, that which is considered to be most personal and fragile.

The remaining three dramas deal with more contemporary themes. The way of showing the ordinariness and triviality of situations in which evil reveals itself is extremely convincing. One can crave another's room so much as to wish a neighbour's death or even to contribute to it (Drugi pokój (The Other Room)). One can be deprived of everything that matters in life, as a result of inhuman regulations and human stupidity (Listy naszych czytelników (Letters From Our Readers)). In a small normal town, among respectable people, a murder can happen which no one is able to explain, and which no one attempted to stop (Lalek).

Awards and prizes

According to a note made by the secret police (SB) agent in the Polish Union of Writers (Związek Literatów Polskich) Herbert was a candidate for the 1968 Nobel Prize in Literature along with another Polish writer Witold Gombrowicz. This information was provided by the Nobel committee secretary who was visiting Poland at that time. A historian from the Instytut Pamięci Narodowej Rafał Sierchuła speculates that the communist government in Poland may have made active attempts to prevent them from receiving the prize, due to their anti-communist opinions.

Nagroda Pierścienia Award (Polish Student Union) (1961)

Kościelski Prize (Geneva) (1963)

Jurzykowski Prize (1965)

Nikolaus Lenau Prize (1965)

Austrian State Prize for European Literature (1965)

Herder Prize (Austria) (1973)

Petrarca-Preis (Germany) (1979)

Nagroda Literacka im. Andrzeja Struga Award (1981)

'Solidarity' Prize (1984)

Mikołaj Sęp Szarzyński Poetry Award (1984)

International Literary Prize of the Arts Council of Wales (1984)

The Hungarian Foundation of Prince Gabor Bethlem Prize (1987)

The Bruno Schulz Prize (American Foundation of Polish – Jewish Studies and American Pen Club) (1988)

K. Szczęsny PEN Club Award (1989)

Legacy

In 2000, an annual cultural festival, known as Herbertiada, was established in the port city of Kołobrzeg, northern Poland. It is dedicated to the memory of Zbigniew Herbert and his literary legacy. Various events, competitions and performances are organized, including two days that are devoted to workshops for young poets and recitations. The same year, Herbert was the subject of a documentary film Obywatel Poeta (Poet Citizen) directed by Jerzy Zalewski for TVP.

The Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award is an award for lifetime achievement given to a living poet writing in any language. It was established in 2012 in honor of Zbigniew Herbert by his widow, Katarzyna Dzieduszycka-Herbert. The award has been given to W.S. Merwin, Charles Simic, Ryszard Krynicki, and Lars Gustafsson.

The Parliament of Poland declared the "Year of Zbigniew Herbert" on two occasions: 2008 and 2018.

From May 2024, some Herbert's manuscripts (poems The Message of Mr Cogito, Nike Who Hesitates and Elegy of Fortinbras) are presented at a permanent exhibition in the Palace of the Commonwealth.