The white grows whiter. On "Wyjście" ("Exit")

Abstract

The author approaches the poem *** [biel się nie smuci...] ("*** [the white is not sad...]") opening the collection Wyjście ("Exit") as essential introduction to the volume, the interpretation of which begins with confronting the title with the image on the cover. The significance of the poem about the white is highlighted by a double depiction – printed version (black letters) and the negative of the manuscript (white letters). The theme of white, always present in Różewicz's works, operating as a multi-functional sign, refers the author to the poem Biel ("The White"), in which the poet mourns a lamb. Analysis of the poem leads to the conclusion that it is a record of the dying of senses, sensations, memories, words. Allusion to the figure of a lamb which "takes away the sin of the world" provides eschatological sense. The white brightens death, it is a sign of perfect ignorance, of what is unknowable and inexpressible. The white combines the "gray area" with suffering (which cleanses) and death (of man, of poetry). Given the bankruptcy of exhausted words, the white, as a sign of peace and silence, leads the poet to "exit" – beyond the reality of the surrounding world, into a zone of peace and silence. The poet says nothing about death, using typography instead (black letters on a white page, white on a black one), as well as dialogue and play with its cultural representations.