Zbigniew Herbert

Thanks to Dave Lull for passing along two Zbigniew Herbert-related links to the November/December issue of Boston Review: A review by W. Martin of The Collected Poems: 1956-1998, and an essay, “The Testament of Mr. Cogito,” by the translator of the Collected Poems, Alissa Valles. Here’s a sample from the latter:

“Herbert’s portrayal of suffering cannot be reduced to political or ethical terms. He had had an early and eager university training in Stoicism and was deeply drawn to the notion that suffering could be mastered by the proper exercise of reason and virtue. Still, though he was known to joke that he was `more Roman than Catholic,’ he was also engaged in a lifelong metaphysical search. What pressed on Herbert’s imagination was not how Catholic theology grew out of Stoicism (regarding Christ as logos), but the scandal of sacrifice—both animal and divine—and the pity and terror of redemption.”