Miejsce odnalezione. Nowy Jork w poezji Anny Frajlich

Abstract

Images of coping with alienation and the need to put down roots hold an impor tant place in Frajlich's poetry (Weil). Redefining identity in a new, American reality is marked for the emigrant (68) with doubt and loneliness intertwining with happiness. For New York being considered home and a place of putting down roots, the poet faced defining her own fate from an individual and collective perspective. All images of adaptation in the city take metaphorical forms in her lyric poetry ֊ there are two visions of the American metropolis. The first one is centred around dead and mineral matters and evokes connotations with endurance and the strength of the human intellect (a home - a snail's shell, a city - a lump, New York - a stone boat, a street - a canyon, a house - a stone sail). The second one refers to the body and implies a rich inner self, mysteriousness and an ability to feel (a vein, heart and stomach). It shows only a partial connection with the architectural motif formed in the Western culture. The poet convinces that without the sense of being a part of the surrounding world, life loses its sense and that art and nature can play the role of a 'third value' which allows to preserve the sense of continuity and ease loneliness.