Norwegian princess dedicates Szymborska poem to daughter

She included her dedication on Twitter, which she joined earlier this month.

The princess’s choice of the poem entitled ‘A Note’ has been praised by the poet and translator Jan Erik Vold in the Internet edition of the daily Aftenposten.

"Szymborska is a modern, wonderful poetess. She writes about ordinary people and daily events in a way that is accessible to all," he wrote.

Princess Ingrid Alexandra is second line to the Norwegian throne.

One of Szymborska’s volumes of poetry is available in a Norwegian translation. Her poems are also included in several Norwegian anthologies of European and world poetry.

In 1996, Szymborska, who is now eighty eight year-old, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature “for poetry that with ironic precision allows the historical and biological context to come to light in fragments of human reality.” (mk)

A Note
Life is the only way
to get covered in leaves,
catch your breath on the sand,
rise on wings;
to be a dog,
or stroke its warm fur;
to tell pain
from everything it's not;
to squeeze inside events,
dawdle in views,
to seek the least of all possible mistakes.
An extraordinary chance
to remember for a moment
a conversation held
with the lamp switched off;
and if only once
to stumble upon a stone,
end up soaked in one downpour or another,
mislay your keys in the grass;
and to follow a spark on the wind with your eyes; and to keep on not knowing something important.

(Translated by S. Baranczak and C. Cavanagh)