Body Versus Soul in the Poetry of Mikhail Zenkevich and Wisława Szymborska
Paper | Mirgorod, Vol. 23/24 (2025) | pp. 65–91
Julia KOWALSKA
Abstract: This article offers an interpretation of the images of body and soul in the works of Russian and Polish poets Mikhail Zenkevich (1886–1973) and Wisława Szymborska (1923–2012). Two poems were selected for analysis: Knockout (1923) and Author’s Evening (1962), both connected through their use of opposing images of the boxer and the poet. In both texts, the boxer symbolises the physical aspect of the human being, while the poet represents the spiritual one. In Zenkevich’s poem, the depiction of a real boxing match serves as a starting point for broader reflections on the fate of the poet. Zenkevich likens the poet’s entire creative process to a boxer’s fight in the ring, while also drawing attention to the essential difference between them: the boxer undergoes
physical exertion, whereas the poet experiences mental strain.
In Szymborska’s poem, the boxer–poet (body–soul) opposition is employed to explore the relationship between literature and mass culture in the modern world. Unlike an author’s evening, a boxing match is a more attractive form of entertainment that demands no intellectual effort. The analysis also uncovers specific parallels in the works of Mikhail Zenkevich and Osip Mandelstam (such as the images of the aorta, insomnia, and memory), as well as in those of Wisława Szymborska and Julian Tuwim (the image of Pegasus, and the portrayal of the boxer as a figure of mass culture). The article concludes by summarising the analysis and emphasising the similarities and differences in how the contrasting images of the boxer and the poet are employed in both poems.
Keywords: Mikhail Zenkevich / Wisława Szymborska /
boxer / poet / body / soul / poetics
DOI: https://doi.org/10.32017/mirgorod-2025-23.24-3
Cite this paper: Kowalska, J. (2025). Тело versus дух в поэзии Михаила Зенкевича и Виславы Шимборской. Mirgorod: The Annual of the History and Epistemology of Contemporary Literary Studies, 23/24, pp. 65–91. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32017/
mirgorod-2025-23.24-3
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