Virginity

By Anna Swir 1909–1984 Anna Swir

One must be brave to live through

a day. What remains

is nothing but the pleasure of longing—very precious.

Longing

purifies as does flying, strengthens as does an effort,

it fashions the soul

as work

fashions the belly.

It is like an athlete, like a runner

who will never

stop running. And this

gives him endurance.

Longing

is nourishing for the strong.

It is like a window

on a high tower, through which

blows the wind of strength.

Longing,

Virginity of happiness.

Anna Swir, “Virginity” from Talking to My Body, translated by Czeslaw Milosz and Leonard Nathan. Copyright © 1996 by Czeslaw Milosz and Leonard Nathan. Used by permission of Copper Canyon Press, www.coppercanyonpress.org.

Source: Talking to My Body (1996)

Biography

Anna Swir (Świrszczyńska) was born in Warsaw, Poland, to an artistic though impoverished family. She worked from an early age, supporting herself while she attended university to study medieval Polish literature. In the 1930s she worked for a teachers’ association, served as an editor, and began publishing poetry. Swir joined the Resistance during World War II and worked as a military nurse during the Warsaw Uprising; at one . . .

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