The End and the Beginning

In Szymborska’s work, the use of colloquial diction signifies shared history and humanity. Language becomes a mechanism by which to understand a complicated world through seemingly simplistic means. The poet shares history without fanfare; in doing so, she shows that everyone has a story worth sharing and that these stories are often universal. As a literary device that underscores unification, colloquial diction is also seminal to understanding the larger implications of Szymborska’s body of work, of which “The End and the Beginning” is an illustrative microcosm. Szymborska’s use of colloquial language itself is a political act: She seeks to give voice to common voices, to those marginalized as too simple or too un-newsworthy.

“The End and the Beginning” exposes how sensationalism and sheer forgetfulness can (un)wittingly aid history in repeating itself. If people strive to remember the everyday instances from which everyday language stems, humankind can not only remember how much it has in common, but it can remember how best to address traumas like war and wartime atrocities. Colloquial diction, also known as ordinary speech, denotes shared history and humanity by revealing how humankind is not so different. As opposed to other forms of poetry, which might focus on form or