Nothing Twice

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1997

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Themes

Time

In real life, each day has a repetitive arc: The sun rises and sets, one goes to work and comes home. Many days feel like copies. However, the speaker of “Nothing Twice” argues that “No day copies yesterday” (Line 9)—each day and moment are unique. The poem acknowledges the passing of time—and one’s inability to stop it—while also acknowledging time’s uniqueness:

no two nights will teach what bliss is

in precisely the same way,

with precisely the same kisses (Lines 10-12).

The speaker argues that time is fleeting. But each passing second brings a new opportunity to discover joy. In her Nobel Prize speech, Szymborska argues for the preciousness of each thing:

…in the language of poetry, where every word is weighed, nothing is usual or normal. Not a single stone and not a single cloud above it. Not a single day and not a single night after it. And above all, not a single existence, not anyone’s existence in this world (Szymborska, Wisława. “The Poet and the World.” 1996. NobelPrize.org.).

To Szymborska, everything is astonishing. This is the crux of “Nothing Twice,” a poem that recognizes the repetitiveness of life while celebrating its uniqueness. Szymborska challenges her reader to meet each day with joy rather than melancholic longing for what can never be again.

Uniqueness

Beginning with the first stanza, the speaker describes how nothing in life can be rehearsed or practiced. One is given one life, which cannot be revised or relived. The speaker reiterates this in the second stanza—“you can’t repeat the class in summer: / this course is only offered once” (Lines 7-8) and extends it into the third—“No day copies yesterday” (Line 9). Each night—and each kiss—has a slightly different feel to it. Each moment is unique.

Szymborska’s lyric poem relies on feelings and emotions. Each moment of the day has a distinct feeling, which separates one moment from another. One’s age, body, health, intellect, and perspective are continually shifting. The speaker wishes to be with the “you” (Line 14) one day and the following “can’t help looking at the clock” (Line 18). Emotion determines whether someone’s company is “a flower or a rock” (Line 20). The speaker asks readers to recognize how no two days or kisses can be the same; they each occur at different points in time, beneath different circumstances.

Existence

The poem opens with one’s spontaneous arrival on earth. There is no life before life—there is only life. Likewise, death is abrupt: One must “leave without the chance to practice” (Line 4). This idea of impromptu arrival and leave-taking suggest the fleetingness of existence: How quickly life comes to be and how quickly life passes. The speaker acknowledges life’s preciousness, which is often taken for granted by those who believe each day is exactly like the last.

The speaker’s perspective glorifies and celebrates the moment. Once a moment has passed, one’s time on earth is shorter than it was a moment previously. The speaker recognizes how easy it is to fall into the trap of lamenting time’s passage. One should understand the tenuousness of existence, and feel wonder at existence, rather than sadness or fear.