Nothing Twice

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1997

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Form and Meter

Szymborska’s “Nothing Twice” is seven stanzas long. Each stanza consists of four lines, or a quatrain. The poem follows a set metrical rhythm of iambic tetrameter. Iambic tetrameter is defined as a poetic line made up of four beats. An iamb, or a beat in a line of poetry, is where a stressed syllable follows an unstressed syllable. Four iambs in a line of poetry is defined as a tetrameter. Tending to be eight syllables in length, poems written in this style are easy to read, with their rhythm often resembling a heartbeat. Take this example:

One day, | perhaps | some i | dle tongue

mentions | your name | by ac | cident:

I feel | as if | a rose | were flung

into | the room, | all hue | and scent (Lines 13-16).

In this stanza, each line is eight syllables long. An unstressed syllable begins each line followed by a stressed syllable (represented in bold text). Two beats or syllables separate each of the metrical feet.

Stanzas 4 and 5 in “Nothing Twice” follow iambic tetrameter perfectly. However, many of her other stanzas have slight variations; lines may be one syllable shorter or longer than eight syllables in length. For example, Line 7 is nine syllables long, ending on an unstressed syllable, also called a feminine ending—“you can’t | repeat | the class | in sum | mer” (Line 7). This extra unstressed syllable satisfies the stanza’s rhyme scheme, rhyming with Line 5, which also has an extra unstressed syllable at the end.

“Nothing Twice” follows an established rhyme scheme of ABAB: The first and third lines of each stanza rhyme as do the second and fourth lines. In addition to the metrical rhythm, the end rhyme scheme establishes musicality. While some rhymes such as in Stanza 1 are slant rhymes, in which the end rhymes have similar but not identical sounds, most of the end rhymes are true rhymes with identical-sounding words. For example, in Stanza 5 “me” (Line 17) rhymes identically with “be” (Line 19) and “clock” (Line 18) rhymes with “rock” (Line 20).

Form and meter in “Nothing Twice” serve many purposes, including adding voice, tone, rhythm, and sonic qualities. Rhyme and meter also establish predictability and provide order and shape.

Rhetorical Questions

Rhetorical questions are a figure of speech in which the speaker poses a question to emphasize a point rather than receive an answer. Toward the end of “Nothing Twice,” Szymborska uses rhetorical questions to emphasize points while drawing conclusions: “A rose? A rose? What could that be? / Is it a flower or a rock?” (Lines 19-20).

Rhetorical questions in literature and poetry tend to follow a statement and serve as a means of contradicting this statement. In Stanza 4, Szymborska’s speaker describes the “you” as a rose being tossed into the room. However, two lines later the speaker subverts this with rhetorical questioning; suddenly the “you” is a rock, the opposite of a rose. These rhetorical questions aren’t meant to be answered. Instead, they’re used as a persuasive device, emphasizing the speaker’s fickleness, and illustrating their inability to embrace the present moment.

Szymborska includes a final question in her poem. In Line 21, the speaker asks: “Why do we treat the fleeting day / with so much needless fear and sorrow?” (Lines 21-22). The speaker then provides a contradictory answer or statement, claiming that it’s irrational for humans to mourn each passing day; the day is doing what it is supposed to do: The sun rises, the sun sets, and one day turns into the next. Or, in the speaker’s words: “It’s in its nature not to stay: / Today is always gone tomorrow” (Lines 23-24).

Rhetorical questioning in “Nothing Twice” emphasizes the argument that everything in life only occurs once and, because of this, every moment should be treasured. By placing these questions in the poem’s final stanzas, Szymborska establishes a tone of urgency or hurried impatience. The questions come one after another, until the final stanza relaxes into its sincere, peaceful resolution.

Repetition

Szymborska uses repetition in “Nothing Twice” to create a sense of urgency, to emphasize, and to add rhythm and music. In Stanza 3, the speaker says: “No day copies yesterday” (Line 9), which is directly followed by the words “no two nights” (Line 10). The repetition of “no” emphasizes the speaker’s point that, despite appearing the same, each day or night is an individual moment. The speaker uses repetition again to describe how bliss cannot be felt the same each night “in precisely the same way, / with precisely the same kisses” (Lines 11-12). By repeating “precisely,” the speaker emphasizes that each night and kiss is a unique moment in time, not a replication. Repetition also adds to the musical quality of the stanza, creating sonic sounds and rhythm.

In Stanza 5, Szymborska uses repetition again, this time with a rhetorical question. The speaker describes their impatience with the “you:” “A rose? A rose?” (Line 19). These repeated words add a sense of urgency, highlighting the speaker’s impatience and frustration. What the speaker thought was a rose suddenly feels like the opposite. Szymborska dramatizes the moment, establishing the speaker’s tone as bewildered, confused, and disbelieving.

Repetition in “Nothing Twice” does not serve one purpose. Used in a variety of ways, it propels Szymborska’s poem forward, establishes its argument, adds layers to the speaker’s tone, and creates a sonic quality that enhances the poem’s meter and rhyme scheme.