This article tries to answer to some questions the author finds of vital importance to stimulate a deeper reflection on the meaning and on the real background of our lives today, starting with the role of literature and poetry and the way they are analysed by sociology. The discourse is focused on the role of science and a particular Polish poet, Wisława Szymborska and the reception of her works in Italy and Poland. All this is presented in the frame of tradition, globalisation and broadly understood freedom.