#Poetry Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004)

by Czesław Miłosz

Finish date: 01.02.2026
Genre: poetry collection of 52 poems
Rating: A
#Winner of the Nobel Prize 1980

Good News: Places carry the weight of the past…visible (buildings) and invisible (suffering). The church is empty….but the light (faith, hope) is still there. (poem: Mittelbergheim)

Good News: It is impossible to recapture the past.. for example visiting your home town again. The CITY preserves, stands BRIGHT…but also obliterates b/c human lives…run their course and fade away. (poem: And the City Stood in its Brightness)

Good News: Just Read a series of poems written while Milosz was in his 20s-30s (1934-1944) “I am a poor poet, I have no words.” Yet Milosz demanded that we be a moral witness (WWII) …must see and remember. Milosz warns us of indifference and forgetfulness. (poem: The Poor Poet)

Good News: Finished part 3… these poems are post WWII, more reflective with less surreal images. Milosz has a sharp eye and traces justified betrayals he witnessed driving WW II: “Having the choice of our own death or that of a friend, / We chose his”. In other words…many turned a blind eye to the horrors of the concentration camps…even the Catholic Church. (poem: Child of Europe …child being the survivors of WW II)

Good News: Finished part 4…these poems were 70% optimistic 30% reflections on how culture and morality can quickly collapse in the face of war, historical upheaval (WW II). Poem “Heraclitus” was my favourite as I learned what a Heraclitian Challenge is: nothing is permanent…it is an illusion of stability. Heraclitus said: “No one ever steps in the same river twice.” So…embrace the present as it inevitably slips away.

Personal: Milosz’s poems are not easy reads. I used AI and asked it before each poem what is the meaning I should look for. This is truly the best way to read poetry. A poet is a witness…the poet refuses to let us forget…