ZBIGNIEW HERBERT
575
with disgust. I am certainly far from being objective. But how can I
be objective, if I am like the man -let me give this classical meta–
phor-who stands at the walls of the Colosseum, hears the roar of
the animals, and sees bodies secretly carried out. It was the worse
part of me that did the talking. When I try to write I throw this part
out of the window . I regret that I could not avoid naming names, but
history is not made by phantoms . Serious discussion of this subject is
a difficult task because at the crucial moments the adversaries are
gagged, or, later, our enemies are no longer the same people, and
talking about their past is a social offense. All we are left with are
kisses and fistfights in the alleys. Young people pierce me with their
innocent eyes that seem to say: "It's a fine mess you've gotten us into,
uncle." Or more politely: "You kept your silence for a while. At the
right moment you made your career, and now you can meditate in
silence again." It seems they would like to learn the strategy of life,
the strategy of literature. How can I explain that I have no strategy.
I don't even know if I am right. And if! am, it is in a defensive way .
That's why a person blackens paper. When I read their poems-very
patriotic, very just, because they are against violence and injustice–
I would like to say: life is more complicated, more mysterious and
more convoluted than the party, the army, the police. Let us detach
ourselves a little from this truly horrible everyday reality and try to
write about doubt, anxiety and despair.
JT:
To be on the "right" side is a moral obligation, but it does not
suffice to make good literature.
ZH:
This is the tragedy of young people who were brought up on
socialist realism. Here we come back to the starting point of our con–
versation. They also believe that it is enough to have the "right" idea
and the form - rhymed or unrhymed - will come by itself later.
JT:
Let's end our conversation on this less than encouraging note.
Translated from the Polish
by
Jaroslaw Anders
