f the Month paintings distinctly show us the monthly routines of a peasant and his family: the spring planting of fields, the long summer hours of work, and the fall harvesting. Without these paintings, peasant life would not be portrayed as realistically as it was. When you hear that peasants had it bad, it is difficult to really understand how bad it was. When you look at these paintings, you see little joy or happiness in the routines of peasants' life. One observer of Bruegel's works is Wislawa Szymborska, last year's winner of the Nobel prize for literature. Now seventy-three years old, Szymborska lives in Krakow, Poland. Married twice (once to a writer and once to a poet), she is considered to be one of the finest European artists of these times. She is also one of five Polish winners of the Nobel prize for literature. Upon winning, Szymborska was quoted as saying, "I'm afraid I will not have a quiet life now. It is hard to believe but I was never hoping for an award" (Heintz). This year's prize was the richest ever at $1.12 million dollars. With only a few close friends, Szymborska has always led a private life, but that may all change now that she is very rich. Edward Hirsch says that "her writing has often reflected philosophical and ethical issues rather than the post-modern fads that contemporary writers everywhere have been swept along by"(46). This next piece of her writing shows her philosophical tendencies. Nothing can ever happen twice. In consequence, the sorry fact is that we arrive here improvised and leave without the chance to practice.(Heintz 48) She is saying that we can never be prepared for what the future may have in store for us. We don't have enough time in life for second chances, for "practice." Unfortunately, we cannot go back and fix the things that practice would have made perfect. The opening lines of many of her poems often seem trivial and obvious, when read or heard separately. After reading the rest...
