the poem stressed the futility of existence on
earth. He now observes that the spirits are kept
alive by those left behind. Life-affirming and
positive images of warm cheeks and the cozy
interior of a house enable the spirit to endure.
It is here that ‘‘In Music’’ is most complex.
The speaker has pondered whether life on earth
has any real purpose and takes a detached, cyn-
ical view of human efforts to discover meaning.
Although the speaker does acknowledge that
specific lives may not be documented in history,
he vacillates between faith and doubt. He ulti-
mately returns to the goodness of humans,
thereby validating their mortal lives. Although
briefly presented, the implicit emotions of hap-
piness, conjured by the touch of cheeks and the
security of a home infuse this somewhat bleak
outlook with hope. Despite Milosz’s metaphys-
ical exploration, he affirms that the natural
world continues after death.
The use of Gnostic and Manichean theology
gives this multilayered poem its rich imagery and
underlying meaning. With the beginning notes of
flute and drum in the first stanza, Milosz creates
the speaker’s imaginative vision of a vanished
reality. Gnostic and Manichean philosophies of
dualism and redemption allow the speaker to
seek an essential meaning in existence and,
although not overtly stated, a personal meaning
in his own life. Written when Milosz was eighty
years old, the poem seems to reveal the poet’s
search for the meaning of his own existence. The
poem offers no definite answers and confirms no
specific faith. However, through his use of theol-
ogy, Milosz discovers an approach to craft that
allows him to explore these complicated, yet
fundamental questions.
Source:Wendy Perkins, Critical Essay on ‘‘In Music,’’ in
Poetry for Students, Gale, Cengage Learning, 2010.
Laura Sheahen
In the following essay, Sheahen describes the reli-
gious poetry of Czeslaw Milosz and puts his work
in the context of his life as a Catholic.
Belief and Doubt in the Poetry
of Czeslaw Milosz
What are we to make of a genius who states
categorically that he believes in angels, the Fall,
the Gospels and the spirit of God brooding over
human history—yet whose faith eludes us even
at his most candid?
One of the world’s and Christianity’s great
poets, Poland’s Czeslaw Milosz, has left us. The
Catholic who just a few years ago wrote of God:
‘‘Now You are closing down my five senses,
slowly, / And I am an old man lying in darkness’’
died on Aug. 14 [2004].
His work remains, a solace and a challenge
to believers everywhere. Along with Israel’s
Yehuda Amichai, Milosz wrote some of the
most searching religious poetry of the 20th cen-
tury. The man may have found his certainties on
that August day, and the angels of the Lord may
have gone out to meet him; but here on earth, the
questions raised in his poems still clamor.
It is usually a dangerous game to assume
that the ‘‘I’’ of the poem is the poet. With
Milosz’s transparent first-person verse, how-
ever, we are more justified in thinking that the
‘‘I believe’’ refers to the man himself. Flip
through his collected works, and every third
poem seems to wrestle, Jacob-like, with religious
mysteries. Yet the avalanche of Christian
imagery and outright credos fails to settle several
questions. What kind of God, loving or other-
wise, does the poet believe in? Are humans more
good than bad? Will anything overcome evil?
In one sense, Christians could hardly hope
for a more orthodox poet. ‘‘Only Christ is the lord
and master of history,’’ says one ode. Speaking of
God: ‘‘overwhelmed by pity, / you descended to
the earth / to experience the condition of mortal
creatures.’’ Milosz’s earthy, tactile poetry clearly
reflects an incarnational theology, which he
touches on in other meditations:
Every day He dies
The only one, all-loving,
Who without any need
Consented and allowed
To exist all that is,
Including nails of torture.
Milosz confesses, in the original sense of
that word, that his world swarms with spiritual
beings: ‘‘Though of weak faith, I believe in forces
and powers / Who crowd every inch of the air.’’IN MILOSZ’S POETRY, AS IN LIFE, THE
QUESTION OF SUFFERING OVERSHADOWS ALL
SPECULATIONS ON THE NATURE OF GOD.’’In Music