cultures. ‘‘Polyphony’’ is a ‘‘creative principle’’
for Milosz, Mozejko contends, and it is ‘‘one of
the foremost characteristics of Milosz’s poetry.’’
Certainly these statements regarding Milosz’s
themes and stylistic approach apply to ‘‘From
the Rising of the Sun.’’
CRITICISMCatherine Dominic
Dominic is a novelist and freelance writer and
editor. In the following essay, Dominic contends
that while ‘‘From the Rising of the Sun’’ features
several points of view or different voices, a struc-
ture that randomly incorporates verse and prose,
and a style that ranges from lyrical to instruc-
tional, the poem possesses a distinct unity in its
persistent longing for the comfort of faith.
Descriptors such as ‘‘multivocal’’ and ‘‘poly-
phony’’ are often used in discussing the style of
Milosz’s ‘‘From the Rising of the Sun.’’ In fact,
the effect in question pervades every aspect of
the poem. ‘‘From the Rising of the Sun’’ is char-
acterized by a startling multiplicity in terms of
voice, form, style, and content. Stunning lyri-
cism, for example, gives way to historical essays
or lists of facts, just as the first-person point of
view shifts to the third person. Yet despite the
dissonance that these transitions create, the
poem is unified by the sense of yearning that
pervades the poem, a yearning specifically for
faith and comfort in it. In a sense, to the extent
that the poem can be said to beaboutany one
thing, ‘‘From the Rising of the Sun’’ is about the
poet’s longing for faith as compensation for the
deep sense of isolation and alienation he feels so
viscerally. It is about the interplay between
despair and hope—the despair that experience
teaches and the hope that faith offers.
From the opening of the first section the
relationship between despair and hope is out-
lined, underscoring the poet’s sense of longing
to transition from one state to the other. He
speaks in the second stanza of the first section
of his fear, his weakness, and about the need to
at least imagine oneself brave in order to brace
oneself for the spiritual restoration, symbolized
by the light of day, with which the repentant
sinner will be rewarded at the end of the world,
symbolized by the red horse, a reference to one
of the biblical book of Revelation’s four horses
and horsemen that initiate the apocalypse. The
poet goes on to speak of the unfulfilled hopes of
old people who await glory and power. This
opening section sets the stage for the rest of the
poem, in which dark images and sentiments are
juxtaposed with references to faith and the glory
of God.
In the second section of the poem, after out-
lining the struggles inherent in the natural world,
the poet speaks of the losses he has witnessed—a
lost generation, lost cities, lost nations. Descrip-
tions of death and destruction are offered in a
lamenting tone before the poet turns to the pil-
grimage he embarked upon. He sets off, seeking
and yearning, pursuing faith and true belief, but
he finds only an idol, an image of religion (aWHAT
DO I READ
NEXT? Zniewolony umsyl, translated asThe Captive
Mindand published in 1953, is Milosz’s
political examination of totalitarianism and
is counted among Milosz’s best-known
works.
Native Realm: A Search for Self-Definition,
originally published in 1959 in Polish as
Rodzinna Europa, is Milosz’a autobiogra-
phy. The English translation was originally
published in 1968.
Lithuania: The Rebel Nation (1996), by
Vytas Stanley Vardys and Judith B. Sedaitis,
offers a history of Lithuania’s struggle
against Soviet oppression and provides a
thorough exploration of the effects of the
Soviet occupation on Lithuanian culture.
Contemporary East European Poetry: An
Anthology, edited by Emery George, was
originally published in 1983 and then
reprinted in an expanded form in 1993. The
collection contains representative twentieth-
century poetry from Eastern European
countries, including Lithuania. The section
on Lithuania allows one to compare
Milosz’s poetry to that of his countrymen.FromtheRisingoftheSun