becoming disillusioned with socialist politics, he
abruptly left his position and officially defected to
France in 1951, there to focus solely on writing.
As a result, Milosz was considered a rebel
and an outcast, and his work was banned in his
native country. There was also resistance to his
works in France, as many French intellectuals
suspected him of being a communist spy. Despite
these difficulties, he was able to publish twelve
works between 1953 and 1960.
In 1960, Milosz left France to accept a posi-
tion of lecturer (and eventually professor) in the
Slavic Department at the University of California
at Berkeley. During this period, much of his
poetry contained vivid imagery of the Pacific
Coast and San Francisco blended with Lithua-
nian landscapes and mysticism. Another issue
Milosz addressed at this time was the growing
intensity (and distrust) of U.S. politics during
the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Students and scholars at Berkeley began an
intensive campaign to translate his work into Eng-
lish, which led to Milosz giving public readings of
his poetry. One of the most significant poetry pub-
lications during his tenure at Berkeley wasGdzie
słon ́ce wschodzi i kiedy zapada(translated asThe
Rising of the Sun) in 1974. In this work, Milosz
pursued his interest in metaphysics as well as the
relationship between the past and present. It also
showed his writing more openly about his religious
beliefs as well as other theological viewpoints.
Milosz was awarded the Nobel Prize for
Literature in 1980. This award resulted in
increased translations of his poetry and prose
and solidified his position as one of the top
writers in the United States. Milosz’s reputation
in Poland was also restored. In 1980 and 1981,
the Solidarity movement was successful in fight-
ing strict censorship laws. As a result, his work
began to be republished and circulated. After the
collapse of Soviet communism (1985–1991), his
work was widely available, and he again gained
renown in Poland and throughout Europe. Sub-
sequently, he was able to visit Poland freely.
Milosz resigned from his post at Berkley in
l980 yet continued to add to an already substan-
tial body of poetic works between 1981 and
2001, including Dalsze okolice (translated as
Provinces), in which ‘‘In Music’’ appears.
After a literary career that spanned seven
decades, Milosz died in Krakow, Poland, at the
age of ninety-three on August 14, 2004.
Poem Text
Wailing of a flute, a little drum.
A small wedding cortege accompanies a couple
Going past clay houses in the street of a village.
In the dress of the bride much white satin.
How many pennies put away to sew it, once
in a lifetime. 5
The dress of the groom black, festively stiff.
The flute tells something to the hills, parched,
the color of deer.
Hens scratch in dry mounds of manure.
I have not seen it, I summoned it listening to
music.
The instruments play for themselves, in their
own eternity. 10
Lips glow, agile fingers work, so short a time.
Soon afterwards the pageant sinks into the earth.
But the sound endures, autonomous, triumphant,
For ever visited by, each time returning,
The warm touch of cheeks, interiors of houses, 15
And particular human lives
Of which the chronicles make no mention.Poem Summary
The first stanza of ‘‘In Music’’ opens with sounds
of an eerie melody from two instruments.
Through the use of personification, a technique
that gives inanimate objects human qualities, a
flute is wailing as it is accompanied by the beating
of a small drum. The flute as a mournful, weeping
instrument and the drum are connected to line 2.
This music is being played as a wedding cortege
(procession as in a funeral) moves through the
village. The description of the party as a funeral
procession is unconventional since a wedding day
is symbolic of the beginning of a life together for
the betrothed, rather than the end of it. This
somber scene, rather than that of a joyous group
of attending family and friends, is made even
more haunting by the crying flute.
Lines 4 through 6 provide a description of
the wedding attire of the bride and groom. The
bride’s gown is made of white satin; however, in
line 5 the speaker interrupts the pleasing image
as he cynically wonders how much the bride had
to sacrifice in order to sew the dress that she will
only wear for one day in her life (suggesting that
she is a virgin). Contrasted with the whiteness of
the bride’s gown is the black of her husband’s
suit, presented in line 6. The speaker adds that
the groom’s attire is stiff, yet still celebratory.
A literal reading of this image indicates that theIn Music