wife and warder let him conduct an examination of his life. However, this is not the only theme brought up in the drama. Socrates could easily escape if he wants, as the death penalty was to be token. Those by whom he was sentenced, presume that he will escape and they saw to it that he had such a possibility. Yet, the philosopher does not reconcile himself to the hypocrisy of freedom without actual freedom – he goes to extremes and finally resigns himself to death. Rekonstrukcja poety refers to Homer. The author of great epics, being already blind, alters his view into something vital and worthy of interest – no more battle's clamor, but now detail, something which is considered to be the most personal and fragile. The remaining three dramas refer to more contemporary themes. The way of showing the ordinariness and triviality of situation, in which evil reveals itself, is extremely convincing. One can crave the other room so much as to wish a neighbour's death or even to contribute to it Drugi pokój (The Other Room). One can be deprived of everything that matters a lot in life, as a result of inhuman regulations and human stupidity. Listy naszych czytelników (Letters From Our Readers). In a small normal town, among respectable people, even murder can happen. The murder which no one is able to explain, and which no one had attempted to stop (Lalek). Awards and prizes According to a note made by the secret police (SB) agent in the Polish Union of Writers (Związek Literatów Polskich) Herbert was a candidate for the 1968 Nobel Prize in Literature along with another Polish writer Witold Gombrowicz. This information was provided by the Nobel committee secretary who was visiting Poland at that time. A historian from the Instytut Pamięci Narodowej Rafał Sierchuła speculates that the communist government in Poland may have made active attempts to prevent them from receiving the prize, due to their anti-communist opinions. Nagroda Pierścienia Award (Polish Student Union) (1961) Kościelski Prize (Geneva) (1963) Jurzykowski Prize (1965) Nikolaus Lenau Prize (1965) Austrian State Prize for European Literature (1965) Herder Prize (Austria) (1973) Petrarca-Preis (Germany) (1979)Nagroda Literacka im. Andrzeja Struga Award (1981) 'Solidarity' Prize (1984) Mikołaj Sęp Szarzyński Poetry Award (1984) International Literary Prize of the Arts Council of Wales (1984) The Hungarian Foundation of Prince Gabor Bethlem Prize (1987) The Bruno Schulz Prize (American Foundation