The End and the Beginning

In Szymborska’s work, the use of colloquial diction signifies shared history and humanity. Language becomes a mechanism by which to understand a complicated world through seemingly simplistic means. The poet shares history without fanfare; in doing so, she shows that everyone has a story worth sharing and that these stories are often universal. As a literary device that underscores unification, colloquial diction is also seminal to understanding the larger implications of Szymborska’s body of work, of which “The End and the Beginning” is an illustrative microcosm. Szymborska’s use of colloquial language itself is a political act: She seeks to give voice to common voices, to those marginalized as too simple or too un-newsworthy.

“The End and the Beginning” exposes how sensationalism and sheer forgetfulness can (un)wittingly aid history in repeating itself. If people strive to remember the everyday instances from which everyday language stems, humankind can not only remember how much it has in common, but it can remember how best to address traumas like war and wartime atrocities. Colloquial diction, also known as ordinary speech, denotes shared history and humanity by revealing how humankind is not so different. As opposed to other forms of poetry, which might focus on form or meter or heavy symbolism over general understanding, Szymborska chooses to imbue her poetic subjects with speech used by the general population.

Szymborska uses simple verbs like “push” (Line 5) and “drag” (Line 14) to describe the physical work required for the reconstruction efforts that arise after war. Szymborska’s repetition of the phrase “someone has to” is also familiar, common within day-to-day conversations (Line 2). The poem’s diction both sets the stage for the inevitability of postwar reconstruction (“someone has to”) and addresses the subject like one might address what items to buy for dinner. In other words, Szymborska posits that nothing is truly new under the sun. And in keeping with the concept that nothing is new, Szymborska gives a warning by the end of the poem: There might come a time when people would rather lounge dreamily on the grass and ignore history rather than remember (or even honor) the past. This willful forgetting leads to friction, to further wars, to history repeating itself because humankind fails to remember what it has in common and/or how it resolved issues previously. Colloquial diction signifies understanding: it isn't coded, it isn't meant to detract, obscure, or hide something. Colloquial language connects us instead of dividing us.

Szymborska’s colloquial diction, or her intentional selection of everyday vocabulary throughout the poem, helps unify and bridge the gap between seemingly disparate subjects. She embraces the quotidian as a clearer expression of real life. Her work, including “The End and the Beginning,” hopes that humankind can remember to include the colloquial and the quotidian in the definition of what it means to be human and humane.