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Longing for nobility:
In our era of homogeneity in everything, including literary celebrity, the publication by Anvil of this slim volume of translations of a Polish poet presents the English reader with a rare opportunity. Here's a famous name, on a par with Lermontov's or Browning's, yet it can be dropped with every expectation of silence and a blank stare in reply. "Norwid? Who he?" Why, Cyprian Kamil Norwid, 1821-83, peer of Mickiewicz, friend of Chopin, part of the Polish school curriculum.

It is equally rare, in the English-speaking world, to come across a work of translation that is a labour of love, a painstakingly crafted instrument that resonates with the melody and the mystery of the original, rather than a factory-made music box. Adam Czerniawski has been working on his English Norwid since he was a schoolboy, publishing his versions in magazines from the 1950s onward. He translated only what came - only as much as he could - never aiming for monumentality or completeness. These are telltale signs of a conscientious translator of poetry, and the translations collected here are an exercise in sensitivity and precision. Useful as they ever are, these qualities are indispensable in approaching Norwid.
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