A Study on the Main Motifs in Szymborska’s Unpublished Early Poems

Wisława Szymborska, winner of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature, is a poet who perceives the true essence of objects through a penetrating insight, based on the mind’s eye. She established a unique style as a poet, characterized by concise yet clear language that encapsulated contemplation and introspection. Published in 2014 The Black Songs (Czarna Piosenka) is a collection of unpublished poems from the poet's youth. After her death, a bundle of manuscripts was found in a drawer, containing her earliest works from her youth. The restoration of this collection fills the seven-year gap between her debut in 1945 and the publication of her first book of poetry in 1952. It has been also revealed why Szymborska’s poems about World War II, despite her belonging to the “the War Generation,” were scarcely published until now. This paper examines the main motifs, images and themes of Szymborska’s unpublished early works, focusing on the works from The Black Songs and analyzes their connections to her later poems.