The End and the Beginning

Wisława Szymborska’s “The End and the Beginning” is a 47-line, free verse poem, denoting that there are no consistent patterns of rhyme, rhythm, or meter throughout the piece. The poem contains 10 stanzas, or groupings of lines, ranging anywhere from four lines in length (Stanzas 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 8) to seven lines in length (Stanza 7).

Free verse allows Szymborska to convey the same chaos that is present within the content of the poem in its physical structure. Szymborska’s purposeful lack of consistency and pattern leaves readers feeling unsettled and on edge for the entire 47 lines of the poem. Lines that only contain two beats, or syllables, such as Line 3 (“Things won’t”) are juxtaposed against much longer lines like Line 4 (“straighten themselves up, after all”). As a result of this, readers cannot anticipate what is coming next because both the form and content of “The End and the Beginning” is disorderly and confusing.

“The End and the Beginning” is marked more by the progression of time within the content of the piece than by its metrical or rhythmic features. However, it is important to note that, because the poem is a translation, some of the original structural elements and sonic features (literary elements used to stress certain sounds within