Mr. Cogito

Initially Mr. Cogito was an Everyman, a universal element of humanity sharing his opinions on various aspects of life and existence.

However, the more he says, the more disembodied he appears, and becomes transformed into an ethical symbol and a metaphor of the tough choices we have to make between good and evil.

The collection ultimately consisted of 40 poems, which build up the drama around its single main character, Mr. Cogito.

Mr. Cogito, who is involved in all the monologues and dialogues in the book, invites a range of various interpretations, including cultural and historical ones.

True to the Cartesian overtones of his name, Mr. Cogito often reflects on life and the world, providing the reader with the thoughtful statements.

[3] This volume is regarded by some[4] as a second valedictory collection in which Hebert takes the opportunity to bid farewell to his friends (the first was his "An Elegy for the Departure").

The first one, dedicated to Władysław Walczykiewicz, is entitled "From Mr. Cogito on the Set Topic: Friends Depart" and bears the weight of nostalgic memories of the old times and companions gone.

Written for Zbigniew Zapasiewicz, it mentions the feelings accompanying Mr. Cogito, who flicks through his old pocket calendars and finds the forgotten names and notes, covered with the mist of time.

[citation needed] "The Message of Mr. Cogito" encapsulates a heroic moral code, making the Polish patriots aware that they "were saved not in order to live".

Being a Polish poet living in Australia, she wrote about her alter ego inspired by Mr. Cogito, bearing the name of Mrs. Tree ("Pani Drzewo").

For instance, he inspired The Russian Graduate Seminar Group,[8] appeared in articles, like the one in Boston Review[9] and became an object of multiple academic and non-academic researches.

Mr. Cogito Magazine appeared in the United States, bringing translations of dissident poetry out of eastern Europe.