The End and The Beginning by Wislawa Szymborska - Summary - Explanation
The poem "The End and The Beginning" is penned by a Polish author named Wislawa Szymborska who was a Nobel laureate for Literature in 1996. The poem depicts the impact of a war on the affected region and upon its inhabitants and huge destruction and problems it causes.
After the end of every war, native people have to work hard to clean the mess and ruins caused due to this violent business. People must clean the roads blocked by rubble so that the vehicles carrying corpses can pass through. Someone has to work through sludge and pick all the trash including sofas, shards of glasses, blood-stained rags. Weak and damaged walls need to to be repaired and the windows need new glass to be fitted into it. The doors have to be set back into its frame.
During the war and just after it, a lot of media coverage reached the region so as to make an exclusive story out of this and show the situation to the outer world. As there is a universal fact that negativity gets the maximum attention so media channels use the ongoing affairs to build their audience base. But when the war ends, then the media cold-shouldered the region and since then there is no photoshoot, no stuttering sound. According to the poet, all the media have now gone to cover some other war. The damage done to the infrastructure i.e bridges, railway station is enormous and people have to "roll sleeves" of their shirt to work hard to rebuilt all the above. Due to this work, their shirt would be torn away and turn into "shreds".
One individual with a broom in his hands wonders about the time before the war when everything was fine and stable. Another one listens to the conversation and nods. But most of the people were bored of heeding to implications of war. Many times, someone raises a buried topic or argument from the past and then leave it incomplete. People who are aware of the real causes of war must enlighten other people who know little or nothing about it. Someone would lie in the grass which "cover up" the real reason for which the war took place. With a cornstalk (a stem of corn plant) in his mouth, he would stare at moving clouds.
After the end of every war, native people have to work hard to clean the mess and ruins caused due to this violent business. People must clean the roads blocked by rubble so that the vehicles carrying corpses can pass through. Someone has to work through sludge and pick all the trash including sofas, shards of glasses, blood-stained rags. Weak and damaged walls need to to be repaired and the windows need new glass to be fitted into it. The doors have to be set back into its frame.
During the war and just after it, a lot of media coverage reached the region so as to make an exclusive story out of this and show the situation to the outer world. As there is a universal fact that negativity gets the maximum attention so media channels use the ongoing affairs to build their audience base. But when the war ends, then the media cold-shouldered the region and since then there is no photoshoot, no stuttering sound. According to the poet, all the media have now gone to cover some other war. The damage done to the infrastructure i.e bridges, railway station is enormous and people have to "roll sleeves" of their shirt to work hard to rebuilt all the above. Due to this work, their shirt would be torn away and turn into "shreds".
One individual with a broom in his hands wonders about the time before the war when everything was fine and stable. Another one listens to the conversation and nods. But most of the people were bored of heeding to implications of war. Many times, someone raises a buried topic or argument from the past and then leave it incomplete. People who are aware of the real causes of war must enlighten other people who know little or nothing about it. Someone would lie in the grass which "cover up" the real reason for which the war took place. With a cornstalk (a stem of corn plant) in his mouth, he would stare at moving clouds.