The poem "Among the Multitudes" is written by the Polish poet Wislawa Szymborska. Syzmborska was a Jewish woman who was in her youth at the outbreak of WWII, though she avoided being deported to labor camps. While living under Communism after the war she held many dissident political opinions, championing free speech despite censors and many high-profile treason trials.
"Among the Multidudes" reflects on these realities of Szymborska's life. She could have had "different ancestors"; she could have been more or less fortunate. Overall, these reflections are hopeful, but they acknowledge that her luck - in avoiding Nazi violence and Communist political reprisal - was not the fate of all.
The poem also draws strong connections between human life and other natural life. To be a tree or a mouse is just as possible, just as natural, just as coincidental as any other fate. This theme is echoed in her other works, which often take up strange and non-human perspectives.
While Szymborska considers herself fortunate for avoiding abject disaster ("I could have been someone...much less fortunate...A tree rooted in the ground/ as the fire draws near"), the joy and hope she expresses do not come merely from survival. The poem ends with her celebrating her "happy moments", and her ability to experience "amazement" in a way that clearly indicates that these experiential joys - rather than simply her luck of survival - are where her hopefulness derives from.
More than anything, the poem can be seen as a celebration of individuality. The speaker doesn't dwell on all the numerous imperfections of her life; on the contrary, she affirms them as part of what it means to be human. She doesn't lament the fact that she had no choice in being what she is; instead, she thinks of what she might have been had fate not been so kind to her.
That's why she expresses such profound gratitude for not being an animal bred for fur or slaughtered for the Christmas dinner table. Even as another human, there could easily have been so many problems in her life. She might have been born into the wrong tribe, with so many paths in life closed to her.
In celebrating herself for what she is, the speaker counts all her blessings, giving thanks to fate for being so incredibly kind to her. Fate can always change, of course, but one senses that, whatever happens, the speaker will always retain a sense of amazement, which will stand her in good stead whatever life may throw at her.
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