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What Our Dead Do

By Zbigniew Herbert 1924–1998 Zbigniew Herbert

Translated By John Carpenter and Bogdana Carpenter

Jan came this morning

—I dreamt of my father

he says

he was riding in an oak coffin

I walked next to the hearse

and father turned to me:

you dressed me nicely

and the funeral is very beautiful

at this time of year so many flowers

it must have cost a lot

don’t worry about it father

—I say—let people see

we loved you

that we spared nothing

six men in black livery

walk nicely at our sides

father thought for a while

and said—the key to the desk

is in the silver inkwell

there is still some money

in the second drawer on the left

with this money—I say—

we will buy you a gravestone

a large one of black marble

it isn’t necessary—says father—

better give it to the poor

six men in black livery

walk nicely at our sides

they carry burning lanterns

again he seemed to be thinking

—take care of the flowers in the garden

cover them for the winter

I don’t want them to be wasted

you are the oldest—he says—

from a little felt bag behind the painting

take out the cuff links with real pearls

let them bring you luck

my mother gave them to me

when I finished high school

then he didn’t say anything

he must have entered a deeper sleep

this is how our dead

look after us

they warn us through dreams

bring back lost money

hunt for jobs

whisper the numbers of lottery tickets

or when they can’t do this

knock with their fingers on the windows

and out of gratitude

we imagine immortality for them

snug as the burrow of a mouse

"What Our Dead Do" from Elegy for the Departure by Zbigniew Herbert, translated by John Carpenter and Bogdana Carpenter. Copyright © 1999 by Zbigniew Herbert. Translation copyright © 1999 by John Carpenter and Bogdana Carpenter. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, www.harpercollins.com

Source: Elegy for the Departure (The Ecco Press, 1999)

Biography

"One of Poland's most honored and influential poets," as Robert Hudzik describes him in Library Journal, Zbigniew Herbert enjoys an international reputation. His poetry, marked by a direct language and a strong moral concern, is shaped by his experiences under both the Nazi and Soviet dictatorships. As Bogdana Carpenter writes in World Literature Today, "from his extremely destructive experiences Herbert manages to draw . . .

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