Zbigniew Herbert
Polish poet whose Mr Cogito poems use an ironic everyman figure to explore moral resistance under totalitarianism. He is one of the major Central European poets of the century.
Works
- Chord of LightEarly collection balancing classical reference with modernist sensibility and formalism
- Study of the ObjectMeditation on objects, the physical world, and poetic consciousness
- Mr CogitoSequence of poems featuring philosophical speaker resisting totalitarian pressure
- Report from the Besieged CityLong poem describing a city under siege, invoking classical and contemporary suffering
- Elegy for the DepartureElegiac verses mourning historical departures, cultural loss, and mortality