Czeslaw Milosz

Czeslaw Milosz at a U.S. Library of Congress reading of his work in 1997

Czeslaw Milosz (June 30, 1911—August 14, 2004), Polish poet and novelist, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1980.

Well known as a critic of the Polish Communist government, Milosz was awarded the prize while protests by workers in Poland's first independent trade union, Solidarity, erupted against Communist rule. Thus, his Nobel status became a symbol of hope for anti-Communist dissidents.

Milosz is a writer with a distinctly twentieth-century voice. Having barely escaped both Nazi terror and Communist dictatorship, he probed man's moral fragility in a violent world.

Yet Milosz, a complex and sensitive man, proclaimed in his Nobel acceptance speech that the books that linger should “deal with the most incomprehensible quality of God-created things.”

Russian poet and fellow Nobel Laureate Joseph Brodsky called him "one of the greatest poets of our time, perhaps the greatest." Brodsky spoke of his "severe and relentless mind" having "such intensity that the only parallel one is able to think of is that of the biblical characters, most likely Job."

Biography

Early Years

Born to a Polish-speaking family in Lithuania, Milosz as a young man studied literature and law in its capital city, Vilna, (today, Vilnius), a meeting point between East and West. In that ancient city, Lithunians, Poles, Byelorussians, and Tartars, Christians, Jews, and Muslims intermingled peacefully.

Yet Milosz, as a Central European who had felt at close range the impact of the first World War and the rise of Communism in nearby Russia, sensed impending catastrophe.

His first published poetry, a 1933 volume entitled A Poem on Frozen Time, deals with the imminence of yet another war and the worldwide cataclysm that it portends.

When the Nazis did invade Poland, Milosz moved to Warsaw and joined the resistance. There he edited an underground anthology of Polish wartime poetry, Invincible Song (1942). The tragic fate of the Poles and Jews surrounding him were deeply burned into his consciousness. He personally witnessed the end of the walled Jewish ghetto.

Milosz's response to the horror was The World (1943). Reaching beyond suffering, he helped his readers find promise within ordinary things. He intimated that the world's innermost nature is not evil and thus that evil would pass.

Post-war Career

After the war, Milosz, then a socialist, joined the Polish diplomatic corps. He served in New York and Washington DC before being sent to Paris where he asked for political asylum in 1951. Stalinism had increased its hold on Poland.

In France, Milosz published The Captive Mind, one of his best-known books, a critique of the Polish Communist Party’s assault on the independence of the intelligentsia. Governments can use more than censorship to control people; they can alter the meaning of words, he reminds us.

Milosz is one of a number of Central European writers and intellectuals who have clung tenaciously to the moral value of memory. This, Milosz believed, is a distinctly Central European contribution to world literature and thought. In his History of Polish Literature, he speaks at length about the role of memory in moral and cultural survival.

In the early 1960s, Milosz left Paris to become professor of Slavic languages and literature at the University of California at Berkeley. In 1970, he became a United States citizen. He is not often thought of as a commentator on American politics and culture, but in Visions from San Francisco Bay, he muses about America in the 1960s.

Milosz frequently experienced his own life as one of exile; not only because of the years in which he was separated from his native land, but in the larger sense that the human condition as he knew it was one in which all humanity endures metaphysical or even religious exile.

Out of this spiritual awareness, he wrote Unattainable Earth. Here he speaks of how the longings awakened by his unselfconscious, intimate childhood bond with nature, a bond that almost spontaneously identified with the entire world, could not be fulfilled in the human condition in which we find ourselves.

Mysticism and Morality

Milosz was influenced by his Catholic roots and by William Blake; Emanuel Swedenborg; and Oscar Milosz, his cousin, who was a poet and mystic.

Not satisfied by the scientific worldview, which limits serious inquiry to the physical world alone, Milosz was deeply focused on the moral realm. Yet he could not accept the opinion of those who wished to praise his capacity for moral insight or assign to him a position of moral authority.

Because he had known extreme life-and-death situations, he was not unaware of how deeply selfish human beings can become when they are fighting for survival. He realized how strongly the body rejects suffering and death, even for a just cause. He knew that evil is morally dangerous even when faced by persons of good character. He had the humility of those who understand the human condition clearly enough to realize how fragile moral victory is.

He came of age in a world in which many people suffered a social existence that had the demonic at its core. When he writes in Bells in Winter that poets should "hope that good spirits, not evil ones" choose them for their instruments, he cautions that at times discerning the good can be almost indescribably difficult.

Milosz writes in Visions of San Francisco Bay that much of culture is devoted to covering up man's fundamental duality. He tries instead to help readers face the actual nature of the contradictions between good and evil within themselves.

In one of his later books, The Land of Ulro ("Ulro" is Blake's creation), Milosz writes of his own struggles:

“When my guardian angel...is triumphant, the earth looks precious to me and I live in ecstasy...surrounded by divine protection...my dreams are of magically rich landscapes, and I forget about death, because whether it comes in a month or five years it will be done as it was decreed, not by the God of the philosophers but by the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When the Devil triumphs, I am appalled...I look at trees in bloom as they blindly repeat...what has been willed by the law of natural selection...I am oppressed by the randomness and absurdity of my individual existence...”

Milosz's prophetic insights were courageous. He not only proclaimed the coming of World War II, even foretelling the crematoriums, he prophesied that democratic movements in Central Europe, such as that forged by the Polish labor union Solidarity, would outlast tyranny.

Death and Legacy

Throughout his life, Milosz remained deeply involved in the Polish literary world. In his later years, he translated into English the writing of Polish authors largely unknown in the West such as Alexander Wat, a man whose time in Communist concentration camps produced a profoundly honest theological and literary voice. Milosz also learned Hebrew so that he could translate the Old Testament into Polish.

After the Soviet Union disintegrated, Milosz was once again able to live in Poland. He eventually settled in Kracow, where his ninetieth birthday was widely celebrated. There he died in 2002 at the age of 93. His first wife, Janian Dluska, the mother of his two sons, Anthony Oscar and John Peter, had passed away in 1986. His second wife, Carol Thigpen, an American-born historian, had also died in 2001.

In Poland, Milosz' funeral in the ancient cathedral church of St. Mary was a state event. Thousands lined the streets to pay their respects. He was buried in the Church of St. Michael and St. Stanislaw on the Rock in Krakow, beside other famous Polish cultural figures.

Milosz received many honors during his lifetime. He is listed at Israel’s Yad Vashem memorial to the holocaust as one of the “Righteous Among the Nations.” His words grace a monument to fallen shipyard workers in Gdansk. He received the Prix Litteraire Europeen (1953), the Marian Kister Award (1967), a Guggenheim Fellowship (1977), the Neustadt International Prize (1978), and National Medal of Arts of the U.S. Endowment for the Arts (1989). He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1981) and the American Institute of Arts and Letters (1982). Numerous honorary doctorates in Europe and America were awarded to him including one from Harvard (1989) where he gave the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures (1982).

Works

Works in Polish

Poemat o czasie zastygłym. (A Poem on Frozen Time.) Wilno: Kolo Polonistów Sluchaczy Uniwersytetu Stefana Batorego, 1933
Trzy zimy. (Three Winters.) Wilno: Zwiazek Zawodowy Literatów Polskich, 1936
Wiersze. (Verses.) Lwów, 1939
Ocalenie. (Rescue.) Warsaw: Czytelnik, 1945
Swiatlo dzienne. (Daylight.) Paris: Instytut Literacki, 1953
Zniewolony umysł. (The Captive Mind.) Paris: Instytut Literacki, 1953
Zdobycie władzy. (Seizure of Power.) Paris: Instytut Literacki, 1955
Dolina Issy. (The Issa Valley.) Paris: Instytut Literacki, 1955
Traktat poetycki. (A Treatise on Poetry.)Paris: Instytut Literacki, 1957
Rodzinna Europa. (Native Realm.) Paris: Instytut Literacki, 1959
Człowiek wśród skorpionów : studium o Stanislawie Brzozowskim. Paris: Instytut Literacki, 1962
Król Popiel i inne wiersze. (King Popiel and Other Poems.) Paris: Instytut Literacki, 1962
Gucio zaczarowany. (Bobo's Metamorphosis.)Paris: Instytut Literacki, 1965
Miasto bez imienia. (City Without a Name.) Paris: Instytut Literacki, 1969
Widzenia nad zatoką San Francisco. (Visions from San Francisco Bay.) Paris: Instytut Literacki, 1969
Prywatne obowiązki. (Private Obligations.) Paris: Instytut Literacki, 1972
Gdzie wschodzi słońce i kędy zapada i inne wiersze. (From the Rising of the Sun.) Paris: Instytut Literacki, 1974
Ziemia Ulro. (The Land of Ulro.) Paris: Instytut Literacki, 1977
Ogród nauk. (The Garden of Learning.) Paris: Instytut Literacki, 1979
Dziela zbiorowe. 12 vol. Paris: Instytut Literacki, 1980-1985
Wiersze zebrane. 2 vol. Warsaw: Krag, 1980
Wybór wierszy. Warsaw: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1980
Poezje. Warsaw: Czytelnik, 1981
Hymn o Perele. (Hymn of the Pearl.) Paris: Instytut Literacki, 1982
Piesń obywatela. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Swit, 1983
Dialog o Wilnie. Warsaw: Spoleczny Instytut Wydawniczy "Mlynek," 1984
Nieobjęta ziemia. (Unattainable Earth.) Paris: Instytut Literacki, 1984
Świadectwo poezji. Kraków: Oficyna Literacka, 1985
Poszukiwania : wybór publicystyki rozproszonej 1931-1983. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo CDN, 1985
Zaczynajac od moich ulic. Paris: Instytut Literacki, 1985
Kroniki. (Chronicles.) Paris: Instytut Literacki, 1987
Metafizyczna pauza. (The Metaphysical Pause.) Kraków: Znak, 1989
Poematy. Wroclaw: Wydawnictwo Dolnoslaskie, 1989
Swiat. (The World. ) San Francisco: Arion Press, 1989
Kolysanka. Warsaw: Varsovia, 1990
Rok mysliwego. Paris: Instytut Literacki, 1990
Dalsze okolice. Kraków: Znak, 1991
Szukanie ojczyzny. Kraków: Znak, 1992
Wiersze. 3 vol. Kraków: Znak, 1993
Na brzegu rzeki. (Facing the River.) Kraków: Znak, 1994
Polskie Kontrasty. (On Contrasts in Poland.) Kraków: Universitas, 1995
Jakiegoż to gościa mieliśmy : o Annie Świrszczyńskiej. Kraków: Znak, 1996
Legendy nowoczesności. Eseje okupacyjne. Listy-eseje Jerzego Andrzejewskiego i Czesława Miłosza. (Modern Legends.) Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1996
Poezje wybrane. (Selected Poems.) Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1996
Abecadło Miłosza. (Milosz's ABCs.) Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1997
Piesek przydrozny. (Road-side Dog.) Kraków: Znak, 1997
Zycie na wyspach. (Life on Islands.) Kraków : Znak, 1997
Antologia osobista : wiersze, poematy, przeklady. Warszawa : Znak, 1998
Dar. (Gabe.) Kraków : Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1998
Inne abecadło. (A Further Alphabet.) Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1998
Zaraz po wojnie : korespondencja z pisarzami 1945-1950. Kraków: Znak, 1998
Swiat : poema naiwne. (The World: A Naive Poem) Kraków : Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1999
Wyprawa w dwudziestolecie. (An Excursion through the Twenties and Thirties.) Kraków : Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1999
To. ('This.) Kraków : Znak, 2000
Wypisy z ksiag uzytecznych. Kraków : Znak, 2000
Wiersze. Kraków : Znak, 2001
Orfeusz i Eurydyke. (Orpheus and Eurydice) Krakow: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2003
Przygody młodego umysłu : publicystyka i proza 1931-1939. Kraków : Znak, 2003
Spiżarnia literacka. Krakow : Wydawnictwo Literackie , 2004
Jasności promieniste i inne wiersze. Warszawa : Zeszyty, 2005

Works in English and Translations

Zielonko, Jane, trans.The Captive Mind. New York: Vintage, 1953. ISBN 978-0141186764
The Usurpe. Translated by Celina Wieniewska. London: Faber, 1955
Native Realm. Translated by Catherine S. Leach. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1968. ISBN 978-0374528300
Selected Poems. Translated by Czesław Miłosz and Peter Dale Scott. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin, 1968.
Bells in Winter. Translated by the author and Lillian Vallee. New York: Ecco Press, 1978. ISBN 978-0880014564
Nobel Lecture. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1980. ISBN 978-0374516543
Emperor of the Earth : Modes of Eccentric Vision. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 1981. ISBN 978-0520045033
The Issa Valley. Translated by Louis Iribarne. New York: Farrar, Straus & Girous, 1981. ISBN 978-0374516956
Seizure of Power. Translated by Celina Wieniewska. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1982. ISBN 987-0374257880
Visions from San Francisco Bay. Translated by Richard Lourie. New York: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 1982. ISBN 978-0374517632
The History of Polish Literature. University of California Press, 1983. ISBN 978-0520044777
The Witness of Poetry. Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press, 1983. ISBN 978-0674953833
The Separate Notebooks. Translated by Robert Hass and Robert Pinsky with the author and Renata Gorczynski. New York: Ecco Press, 1984. ISBN 978-0880011167
The Land of Ulro. Translated by Louis Iribarne. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1984. ISBN 978-0374519377
The View. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1985.
Unattainable Earth. Translated by the author and Robert Hass. New York: Ecco Press, 1986. ISBN 978-0880011020
Conversations with Czeslaw Milosz. Czeslaw Milosz speaks with Ewa Czarnecka, Alexander Fiut, Renata Gorczynski, and Richard Lourie. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1987. ISBN 978-0151225910
Exiles. Photographs by Josef Koudelka ; Essays by Czeslaw Milosz. New York: Aperture Foundation, 1988. ISBN 978-0500541456
The World. (Swiat.) Translated by the author. Introduction by Helen Vendler. Portrait of the poet in dry-point engraving by Jim Dine. San Francisco: Arion Press, 1989.
Provinces. Translated by the author and Robert Hass. Hopewell, NJ: Ecco Press, 1991. ISBN 978-0880013178
Beginning With My Streets. Translated by Madeline G. Levine. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1992. ISBN 978-0374110109
A Year of the Hunter. Translated by Madeline G. Levine. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1994. ISBN 978-0374524449
Facing the River: New Poems. Translated by the author and Robert Hass. Hopewell, NJ: Ecco Press, 1995. ISBN 978-0880014540
Striving Towards Being: the Letters of Thomas Merton and Czeslaw Milosz. Edited by Robert Faggen. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1997. ISBN: 978-0374271008
Road-side Dog. Translated by the author and Robert Hass. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1998. ISBN 978-0374526238
Aleksander Hertz. Cracow: The Judaica Foundation Center for Jewish Culture, 2000.
A Treatise on Poetry. Translated by the author and Robert Hass. New York, Ecco Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0060185244
To Begin Where I Am: Selected Essays. Edited and with an introduction by Bogdana Carpenter and Madeline G. Levine. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001. ISBN 978-0374528591
New and Collected Poems 1931-2001. London: Penguin Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0060514488
Milosz's ABCs. Translated by Madeline G. Levine. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001. ISBN 978-0374527952
Second Space: New Poems. Translated by the author and Robert Hass. New York: Ecco, 2004. ISBN 978-0060755249
Legends of Modernity: Essays and Letters from Occupied Poland, 1942-1943. Translated by Madeline G. Levine. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005. ISBN 978-0374530464
Selected Poems, 1931-2004. Foreword by Seamus Heaney. New York: Ecco, 2006. ISBN 978-0060188672

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Davie, Donald, Czeslaw Miłosz and the Insufficiency of Lyric. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1986. ISBN 978-0521322645
Dompkowski, Judith A., Down a Spiral Staircase, Never-Ending: Motion as Design in the Writing of Czeslaw Miłosz. New York: Lang, 1990. ISBN 978-0820409795
Fiut, Alexander, The Eternal Moment: The Poetry of Czeslaw Milosz. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. ISBN 978-0520066892
Malinowska, Barbara, Dynamics of Being, Space, and Time in the Poetry of Czeslaw Milosz and John Ashbery. New York: Lang, 2000. ISBN 978-0820434643
Możejko, Edward Between Anxiety and Hope: the Poetry and Writing of Czeslaw Miłosz. Edmonton: Alta, 1988. ISBN 978-0888641274
Nathan, Leonard and Quinn, Arthur, The Poet's Work: An Introduction to Czeslaw Milosz. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1991. ISBN 978-0674689701
Volynska-Bogert, Rimma, Czeslaw Miłosz: an International Bibliography 1930-1980. Ann Arbor, MI., 1983. ISBN 978-0930042523

External links

Interview with Czesław Miłosz (Georgia Review) www.uga.edu. Retrieved July 12, 2007.
Nobel laureate Czesław Miłosz dies. www.cbc.ca. Retrieved July 12, 2007.
Nobel laureate poet Miłosz dies. news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved July 12, 2007.
Czesław Miłosz memorial (San Francisco Chronicle) www.sfgate.com. Retrieved July 12, 2007.
Nobel poet Czesław Miłosz of Poland and Berkeley, one of the icons of the Solidarity movement, dies. www.berkeley.edu. Retrieved July 12, 2007.
Biography of Czesław Miłosz. www.ukprofind.com. Retrieved July 12, 2007.
Miłosz reading his poems in English at UC Berkeley, April 4, 1983 (with Robert Hass and Robert Pinksy (online audio file) www.lib.berkeley.edu. Retrieved July 12, 2007.
Official site 1980 Miłosz' Nobel Prize in Literature. nobelprize.org. Retrieved July 12, 2007.