Nothing Twice

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.