Message 204 of 2687

Triumph Over Death

Wislawa Szymborska, a contemporary Polish poetess, writes that every second that anything lives is a triumph over death.

Do you consider living to be a triumph over death? Because living is merely 'not dying'. That's a triumph?

What do you think she means? What, for YOU, is a triumph over death? Is there even such a thing?

(Thanks to Dirck for introducing me in another group to the work of this person.)
MartiInMexico's profile
Replies 1 - 10 of 26
For me, it's ridiculous to think there is any "victory" over death. Death is a part of the continuum of the universe. It's part of the recycling process.
okhela's profile

4 months ago
The real victory over death is not letting it worry you, just accepting the death of others and eventually of oneself. As okhela says, it's part of the process, part of life itself.
JaneCrichton's profile

4 months ago
It sounds like that poet has way too much time on her hands. As for me, I'm too busy trying to stay-in-place in the human rat race to worry about death. Talk to me when I'm sipping an Ardbeg.
LenRobertson's profile

4 months ago
Well, that poet is in for a surprise when Death gets her in the end.
GothamGal's profile

4 months ago
I am a soul. I don't die. The body I inhabit during each lifetime has limitations and will die. I go on.
peacewithin's profile

4 months ago
It sounds like that poet has way too much time on her hands.

What the hell does that mean, Len? The same might be said of you for all the useless time you spend on Eons. This person is a respected published author.

How easy it is for us to dismiss anyone with whom we do not agree by saying 'they have too much time on their hands.' Too much time, why? Because their thoughts are different from ours? What a ridiculous statement.
MartiInMexico's profile

4 months ago
view link I thought that it might be a good idea to post the entire poem so that we can see it in context , not that lack of context or even not understanding a topic seems to effect some of our " deep thinkers " .
Dirck's profile

4 months ago
For me , this is a very positive and life-affirming poem .Yes death is always looming out there , and we all know that it will get us in the end , but our waking up each morning to live another day is a small victory over death , and though death claims untold quadrillions of lives every single day , untold quadrillions of new lives are created every single day too . It is the Yin and Yang of existence , each of the opposites depends upon the other for its existence . The fragility and strength of the mayfly which is born , mates , and dies in a single day and has survived as a species for millions of years just blows me away .
Dirck's profile

4 months ago
Yup ... compared to mayflies, we humans being have got it pretty good :)

Thanks to our extra layers of brain material, we tend to spend much of our free time thinking thoughts ... about things that are beyond our control.

Let's all go outside, take a deep breath, feel the air on our skin, gaze up at the sky, down at the earth, out at the horizon. And triumph over death, if only just for a second :)
BarbInBend's profile

4 months ago
Thank you for posting that amazing poem. NOW I can understand the question a bit better. My answer remains the same, though. As Barbin says, let's love our life and enjoy every second we've got.
JaneCrichton's profile

4 months ago
Replies 1 - 10 of 26