and also in the 2006 posthumous collection
Selected Poems, 1931–2004.InareviewofSelected
Poems,Publishers Weeklyproclaimed that the
work ‘‘should renew national attention to a poet
of international significance.’’
Criticism.
Wendy Perkins
Perkins is a professor of English at Prince
George’s Community College in Maryland and
has published several articles on American and
British literature. In this essay, she explores how
Manichean and Gnostic philosophy are used in
the poem ‘‘In Music’’ to convey a statement
regarding existence and the fate of the spirit
within the body.
Many poets have taken a theological
approach to their writing. For example, Dante’s
Divine Comedy and Milton’s seventeenth-
century epicParadise Lostincorporate religious
beliefs in poetry that investigates human exis-
tence, morality, and life beyond material exis-
tence. Following in this tradition, Czeslaw
Milosz investigated theologies, using them as
his predecessors did as a vehicle to pose complex
questions that cannot be answered. However, his
diverse background in theological study makes
his poetry unique. Although Milosz was Catho-
lic, he did not limit his thought or work to
Catholicism. As a young man, he studied various
practices, including Gnosticism and Manichean
philosophy. As a result of this varied education,
Milosz often took a metaphysical approach to
poetry. This perspective lends his speakers a
sense of faith coupled with skepticism. As he
entered his later years, Milosz often drew on
Gnostic and Manichean ideas to explore the
essence of being and the fate of the spirit within
and beyond the body. Using these theologies in
‘‘In Music,’’ Milosz crafts a thought-provoking,
multilayered approach to questions of existence
and the afterlife.
As Milosz pursued his early studies, he was
increasingly drawn to the tenets of Gnosticism
and Manichean philosophy despite being raised
Catholic. Theologians believe that Gnosticism
predates Christianity and various Gnostic sour-
ces are documented as far back as the second
century B.C. Manichean philosophy is known to
have originated in Persia during the third cen-
tury A.D. Each practice discerns the body as
separate from its spirit, and they both consider
the fate of that spirit in the afterlife.
Milosz was intrigued by how Gnosticism
defined matter, specifically the human body, as
having a propensity for evil and immoral acts.
The body’s main function is to house the spirit,
which is deemed superior to the body. Therefore,
mortals serve no purpose until death, when the
spirit within the body is released. Although the
speaker of ‘‘In Music’’ does not overtly denounce
the body (or people) as evil, his cynical, at times
mocking tone implies that humans are essen-
tially naive, doomed to believe their time on
earth is long and that their lives have great mean-
ing. In stanza 1, the wedding party envisioned by
the speaker as he listens to the music of flute and
drum is not described as a joyful group celebrat-
ing the union and new life of the bride and
groom. Rather, it is depicted as a funeral proces-
sion, a cortege accompanied by the sobbing of a
flute. The personalities and emotions of the
bride and groom are not part of this portrait.
Instead, they are described solely by their cloth-
ing. This suggests that their bodies are only for
show, decked in trivial material, which the
speaker cynically notes will only be worn for
one day.
The Gnostic philosophy is also used in
stanza 2, as the speaker broadens his observa-
tions to discuss all people. Whereas the bride and
groom are reduced to their attire, the futile quest
of people in general to achieve meaning in their
existence is evoked through only two images,
that of lips and fingers. People, likened now to
instruments, chatter endlessly with one another
each day. The poet’s choice of diction for this
image, that mouths ‘‘blow,’’ suggests that people,
despite their good intentions, may brag about
their accomplishments, thus exaggerating their
sense of self-importance. It may also suggest that
words, in the grand scheme of things, actuallyITS FREEDOM FROM THE BODY IS A HUGE
VICTORY. THE SPIRIT, DESCRIBED AS LINGERING
SOUNDS OF MUSIC, IS AT LAST AN INDEPENDENT,
IMMORTAL, AND BOUNDLESS ENTITY.’’In Music