Modern Poetry and Appreciation

is a perfect creation

equal to itself

remaining in its confines

exactly full of

pebble-like significance

his scent recalls nothing

doesn't frighten away anything doesn't stir up desires

its scent and cold

Just and full of dignity

I felt a deep remorse when I held it

Its noble body

Penetrated by a false warmth

-pebbles won't be tamed

At the end of the day, they'll all be looking at us

p>with calm, clear eyes

Appreciation

Read the poem "Pebbles" by the Polish poet Zybergenych Herbert to understand the full meaning of the self.

The poem begins with a calm tone of judgment, "The pebble∕is a perfect creation." The word "perfect" is the ultimate word, and it seems inappropriate to use it to describe a pebble, which is too common, and the strange combination of words invites an unsettling imagination of the pebble. But the poet immediately puts an end to such speculations and explains the meaning of "perfection" in four stanzas. The perfection of the pebble is that it is equal to itself, breaking the expectation of perfection, and the various meanings attached to perfection in the world's mind are removed by the poet, and the poet emphatically points out that the perfection of the pebble is that it is a pebble and not something else. The poet gives the pebble a rational personality with "attentive to its limitations"; the pebble knows its own limitations and boundaries, and it controls itself rationally to ensure its integrity, and the phrase "exactly full" expresses the fact that the pebble does not want to transgress its own self in order to increase its ego by enlarging its boundaries, nor does it want to increase its ego by expanding its boundaries. The phrase "exactly filled" expresses that the pebble neither wants to increase its self by expanding its boundaries, nor does it want to decrease its self due to any factors; in short, it must be exactly equal to itself in order to ensure its complete self-sufficiency. Next the poet further illustrates the significance of the pebble's self in terms of its relationship with the other.

The pebble is not isolated from the world, its existence is necessarily connected with the Other, but the pebble, in the midst of this connection, does not undergo any change; it guarantees itself zero influence in its connection with the Other. Its odor (the translator's translation of "aroma" seems inappropriate, the aroma is too strong, it should be "odor" in the following) "does not remind of anything", the Other sees itself! The other sees it for what it is. Nor does it wear a crown to frighten away anything, it is not threatening, it has no image of authority. It does not even arouse the desire of the Other, does not allow possession, and does not allow defilement.

The three negatives are reminiscent of several negatives in Mi?osz's "The Gift," (which Mi?osz may have been influenced by) but Herbert's negatives are very natural, and he phrases them in terms of the Other, while Mi?osz is phrasing them himself. At this point, the poem is very solidly set up, and it is time to reveal another meaning of the pebble, which is "just" and "full of dignity," divorced from the pebble's state of being of "smell and cold. From the "odor and coldness" of the pebble's state of being, it divests itself of the meaning of "justice" and "full of dignity" of personality. However, the 'coldness' of the pebble is misleading and the poet expresses his superficiality in a tone of remorse and shame.

The poet sees the "coldness" of the pebble and sympathizes with it; he tries to warm the pebble with his own hand and ends up destroying the coldness of the pebble so that the body of the pebble is "penetrated by a false warmth", and he sees that the pebble is He sees the pebble looking at him with "calm, clear eyes". From these eyes, the poet understands that conveying warmth from the outside is also a form of taming, and thus truly understands the meaning of the pebble.

Herbert lived in a totalitarian era, and when he thought about his individuality, he thought about how to hold on to himself, and he found in the small, hard nature of the pebble, a mundane object, a reason not to be tamed, and the section of the poem that reflects on this has real meaning. Although people living in non-totalitarian times may not necessarily derive the meaning of "untamed" from the image of the pebble, "The Pebble" is a timeless statement about what it means to be a complete self.