Problematising a poem

In this blog, I shall examine and problematise a poem called “The Three Oddest Words” by Wislawa Szymborska. This poem was translated by S. Baranczak and C. Cavanagh. This blog is a thinking activity assigned by Barad sir. For further information click here. To read some other poems, you can check out this blog. 

The Three Oddest Words:- 

When I pronounce the word Future,

the first syllable already belongs to the past.

When I pronounce the word Silence,

I destroy it.

When I pronounce the word Nothing,

I make something no non-being can hold.

Observations and questions:- 

One of the first things we observe is that the poem is quite short and does not rhyme. In this poem, as the title suggests, the poet seems to be describing the three odd words. 

The very first line of the poem forces readers to question when does a moment become past? And is that duration only a length of a word? If someone says a word, wouldn’t it be in present at least for sometime? 

In the second line, poet claims that pronouncing the word “Silence” can destroy it. However, silence is a universal concept and cannot be destroyed. Even if the poet destroyed the silence around her there is bound to be silence somewhere else. Furthermore, if the poet only said one word, then the silence would return immediately. So it would not be destroyed just a little disturbed. Here, the question arises Can silence be destroyed by a single word?

In the third statement, poet claims to create nothing, simply by saying the word nothing. Again the concept of nothing is universal and can one even create nothing? Isn’t nothingness always present? 

Such are the questions that arise from the poem. 

Explaining the poem:-

The poem explores the paradoxes within certain words in English language. Through the word “Future”, the poet emphasise the fleeting nature of time. The word “Silence” illustrates how difficult it is to maintain true silence. And the word “Nothing” paradoxically creates something highlights the limitation of language in expressing absolute absence. Through this poem, the poet contemplates words and their deeper meanings.