Etyka - nie polityka : o wierszu Zbigniewa Herberta "Msza za uwięzionych"

Abstract

The article includes a detailed interpretation and analysis of Zbigniew Herbert’s poem, Msza za uwięzionych (4 Mass for the Imprisoned). Following the path of deduction, the Author of the article sees the poem in the perspective of the debate between the two Polish intellectuals: Zbigniew Herbert, and Adam Michnik. The Author’s ideological background on which she bases her conclusions is Michnik’s book: Z dziejów honoru w Polsce. Wypisy więzienne (The History of Honour in Poland. A Prison Notebook), large fragments of which are devoted to Herbert’s poetry. This context made it possible to bring out the parallels between the above mentioned works. The interpretation has also been enriched by adding a philosophical context that clearly determines the ideology of the discussed texts. The philosophy in question is that of Henryk Elzenberg, who is abundantly quoted by Michnik, and who is also present in Herbert’s poetry. While analysing the system of symbols in the Mass of the Imprisoned, the Author arrives at a notion, crucial in the poem, that constructs the poetical image. That notion is Rudolf Otto’s “numinosum”, and Otto’s holiness, experienced in fear, tremor, and in the state of being shocked with the world. The poem turns out to be a record of a numinous experience. The interpretation limits the political aspects of the poem to a minimum, even though they almost automatically impose themselves, bearing in mind the date of its writing (the early eighties), the figure of Michnik, to whom it was dedicated, and also its being a record of a fratricidal conflict. The poem’s envoy is above all ethical, rather than political, which is indicated in the ritle of the article, and which finds its justification in the course of the analysis. The purpose of Herbert’s „Mass...” was reconciliation with „brothers who remain in the power of wickedness, and who fight at opposite poles”.