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A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry

Czesław Miłosz (Editor)

4.20 · Rating details · 2,489 ratings · 178 reviews

"A collection of 300 poems from writers around the world, selected and edited by Nobel laureate Czeslaw Milosz Czesław Miłosz's A Book of Luminous Things—his personal selection of poems from the past and present—is a testament to the stunning varieties of human experience, offered up so that we may see the myriad ways that experience can be shared in words and images. Miło ...more

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Paperback, 352 pages

Published April 1st 1998 by Mariner Books

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Jan 16, 2013 s.penkevich rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Kris

Shelves: poetry

'I have always felt that a poet participates in the management of the estate of poetry, of that in his own language and also that of world poetry.'
-Czesław Miłosz

For those, like me, that always wished they could have enrolled in one of Miłosz's courses at Berkeley, can find a bit of a consolation in A Book of Luminous Things. Edited, with a wonderful introduction asserting his intention to not defend poetry but 'remind readers that for some very good reasons [poetry] may be of importance today', 'I have always felt that a poet participates in the management of the estate of poetry, of that in his own language and also that of world poetry.'
-Czesław Miłosz

For those, like me, that always wished they could have enrolled in one of Miłosz's courses at Berkeley, can find a bit of a consolation in A Book of Luminous Things. Edited, with a wonderful introduction asserting his intention to not defend poetry but 'remind readers that for some very good reasons [poetry] may be of importance today', and a slew of interpretations and insights into the poems found within, by Miłosz himself, this collection is a great way to experience world poetry through Miłosz's guiding eyes. He wishes to allow us to witness poetry with the same pure fascination and joy it reaches him, selecting the poems in order to show how 'the artist in his work hasto capture and to preserve one moment, which becomes, indeed, eternal'. Separating his collection into eleven sections, grouping them by ideas capturing a singular moment or emotion such as The Secret of a Thing, Travel, Nonattachment, or even Women's Skin (choosing to avoid 'Adding a few drops to the sea' of Love poetry and instead focusing on the sensation of pleasurable skin sensations, particularly those of women as detailed by women), Miłosz offers commentary and examples from a wide variety of poets across the globe to please our eyes. Viewing poetry through the eyes of my favorite poet is an uplifting and educational experience, introducing me to many new names and reaffirming the genius of poems I've long loved.

The single best aspect of this collection is Miłosz's commentary on the sections and poems. He occasionally analyzes the poem, but most often shares the emotions that boil inside him while caressing each carefully crafted line, and to share in these insights is truly rewarding. It is like attending a lecture by the great Nobel Laureate himself.

TED KOOSER
This poem, on a little town in Minnesota, is a synthetic image or even a collage. There is no single observer. First, we see the last car of a moving train, then we receive information about two lights in the darkness, one a bulb in the prison, the other a flashlight handled by an old woman And so altogether a province. The prison is an important building; and old house with cats belonging to a lone woman (the husband dead, children somewhere far away). Simultaneous images - moments are recaptured.

LATE LIGHTS IN MINNESOTA
At the end of a freight train rolling away,
a hand swinging a lantern.
The only lights left behind in the town
are a bulb burning cold in the jail,
and high in one house.
a five-battery flashlight pulling an old woman downstairs to the toilet
among the red eyes of her cats.

This collection is like riding shotgun with a friend and listening to their favorite album while hearing all their insights to each lyric, and discovering what each note means for them. I had a friend once where we would just drive around an analyze our favorites in such a way, a friend that would bestow such wonderful quandaries of life and attempt to deconstruct them to illuminate the joys in each detail. These drives not only taught me a lot about what I value in life, always looking to this friend as a teacher of sorts, but also let me truly appreciate the poetry of existence. This collection reminds me very much of those drives, except here I am passenger to the great Miłosz, and although he doesn't always give his opinions, he directs you towards beauty and asks you to decide for yourself what ideas and emotional fulfillment you can extract from each piece.

PO CHÜ-I
772-846
And here travel at night, before dawn, in a horse carriage, obviously only one stretch of a longer journey - it associates in my mind with similar travels in my childhood when automobiles in my remote corner of Europe were few. I love Po Chü-I for the extraordinary vividness of his images

STARTING EARLY
Washed by the rain, dust and grime are laid;
Skirting the river, the road's course is flat.
The moon has risen on the last remnants of night;
The travellers' speed profits by the early cold.
In the great silence I whisper a faint song;
In the black darkness are bred somber thoughts.
On the lotus-bank hovers a dewy breeze;
Through the rice furrows trickles a singing streams.
At the noise of our bells a sleeping dog stirs;
At the sight of our torches a roosting bird wakes.
Dawn glimmers through the shapes of misty trees...
For ten miles, till day at last breaks.

It is especially gratifying to read him praise so highly poets and poems that I have already loved, reaffirming my joy and giving me a bit of validation in my own opinion. It's like finding out your favorite musician loves the same songs you love. It's like a connection reaching beyond death, this glimmer of shared love, that human connection that makes reading and living so rewarding, powerful and beautiful, made only the more poignant by sharing it with a personal hero that really made me love this collection. Hearing him speak of Mary Oliver, a poet who might as well own my heartstrings, among others, really gave me joy.

MARY OLIVER
1935-
In view of the great number of nihilizing experiences in literature of the twentieth century, one should appreciate wisdom drawn by people from their contact with nature. Those experiences cannot be rationally defined. But perhaps most essential is the feeling of a universal rhythm of which we are a part simply thanks to the circulation of our blood. In this poe of Mary Oliver's, good and evil, guilt and despair, are proper to the human world, but beyond there is a larger world and its very existence calls us to transcend our human worries

WILD GEESE
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting --
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Occasionally, he tends to take a stab a poets, offering a reason why he dislikes a certain poem, yet still includes it within his collection for other reasons. I personally love Wisława Szymborska, yet Miłosz asserts that she is 'too scientific and that we are not so separated from things' in his description of, what I find truly lovely, View With A Grain of Sand. He includes it, however, for its brilliant depiction of the opposition of 'the human (i.e. language) to the inanimate world and shows that our understanding of it is illusory'. There are a few other cutting remarks by Miłosz throughout this collection, and often it leaves you wondering if he actually hated the poem.

This collection contains poets from across the globe, and has introduced me to many I had previously never heard of. While his own Polish poets are represented heavily, Wisława Szymborska, Anna Swir (all of hers are translated by him personally, and he offers great praise to her art), Adam Zagajewski, and Zbigniew Herbert among them, a great deal of space is given to the ancient Chinese poets. Miłosz loved these poets for their philosophical eye and for their ability to 'draw with a few dashes a certain situation' in such marvelous power. Take for example Tu Fu, a poet heavily referenced in this collection (and one I must certainly find a collection by soon):

WINTER DAWN
The men and beasts of the zodiac
Have marched over us once more.
Green wine bottles and red lobster shells,
Both emptied, litter the table.
"Should auld acquaintance be forgot?" Each
Sits listening to his own thoughts.
And the sound of cars starting outside.
The birds in the eaves are restless,
Because of the noise and light. Soon now
In the winter dawn I will face
My fortieth year. Borne headlong
Towards the long shadows of sunset
By headstrong, stubborn moments,
Life whirls past like drunken wildfire.
(translated from the Chinese by Kenneth Rexroth)

Many review here seem to complain of the high number of Chinese poets, which do seem to dominate the collection, yet they were Miłosz's favorites and analyzing their prose gives a great insight into his own. There are moments where one can clearly draw the connections of inspiration and see the great techniques Miłosz sharpened in his studies of these masters. It is also interesting to note that these same reviewers neglect to mention that the single greatest quantity of poems come from English written, particularly American, poets (I will concede that this is a male dominated collection, and I feel that an inclusion of more female poets would have been to its advantage). While Miłosz does touch upon the standards, offering some classic Walt Whitman or the William Carlos Williams we all loved, and loved to groan over, in our Lit 101 courses, he does contain many of my favorites. This collection, published in 1996, predates the Poet Laureate status of many of the American poets included, such as Billy Collins, Charles Simic, Ted Kooser, W.S. Merwin and even fellow Nobel Laureates like the incredible Tomas Tranströmer (if you enjoy poetry and have yet to read The Great Enigma: New Collected Poems, I urge you to find it and bask in it as soon as possible!) find honorable mention before most of America even realized who they were. Although many of these names were already relatively decorated at the time, I still credit Miłosz with having a great eye for poetry.

Composed of a vast assortment of wonderful poets, this collection is a great little dip through world poetry and a satisfying treat for anyone who loves Miłosz. While it isn't as focused as most poetry collections, this has the charm and nuance of being a book put out by a great poet which sets it above the basic 'Best English Poems' or '100 Poems To Blow Your Fucking Mind' nonsense that fill up bargain bins and shout to all half-hearted poet enthusiasts to purchase so they can have enough background to outwit the common streetwalker. This collection has heart, and personalized insight that really grasps the heart.
4/5

W.S. MERWIN
The following poet inspires us to reflect on what seldom crosses our minds. After all (literally after all), such an anniversary awaits every one of us.

FOR THE ANNIVERSARY OF MY DEATH
Every year without knowing it I have passed the day
When the last fires will wave to me
And the silence will set out
Tireless traveler
Like the beam of a lightless star
Then I will no longer
Find myself in life as in a strange garment
Surprised at the earth
And the love of one woman
And the shamelessness of men
As today writing after three days of rain
Hearing the wren sing and the falling cease
And boding not knowing to what

...more

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Mar 27, 2012 K.D. Absolutely rated it it was ok

Recommended to K.D. by: Nobel Prize for Literature

Shelves: nobel, poetry

Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004) was a Polish poet, prose writer and translator of Lithuanian origin. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1980.

Tomorrow, the Filipinos group here in Goodreads will celebrate our 2nd year anniversary. Our main activity during the celebration will be a poetry reading. This will be our first time to have this kind of ambitious activity. As I try to read at least one work written by each of Nobel Prize awardees, I picked and read this book by Milosz. I thought I could Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004) was a Polish poet, prose writer and translator of Lithuanian origin. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1980.

Tomorrow, the Filipinos group here in Goodreads will celebrate our 2nd year anniversary. Our main activity during the celebration will be a poetry reading. This will be our first time to have this kind of ambitious activity. As I try to read at least one work written by each of Nobel Prize awardees, I picked and read this book by Milosz. I thought I could use the previous books of poetry that I've read like that of by Seamus Heaney or that of Tomas Transtromer but their kind of poems will be very hard for me to read (I wasn't born with a gift of gab) much more to interpret and explain to my fellow members in the book club. They are too profound and a mere reader like me will stutter and run out of words trying to decipher their meaning. I am familiar with some of the poems of Pablo Neruda particularly those that were included in the movie Il Postino but I am expecting many members to get from those. So, I settled for this book.

A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry, first publish in 1996, is not a anthology of Milosz own poems. Rather, he only chose, edited and provided introduction to the book and to each of the 100 or so poems. He explained that these were not all of his favorite poems because he only included those that are less popular from his own country (Poland) or countries not well-known for poems like China, Japan or other Eastern European countries.

The 100 or so poems are grouped into sections and each section has some explanations from Milosz on why they are group together and how poetry can give meaning to those poem's main theme. For example in the section called Situations, poems tell stories about or reflect the situations about a certain country, place or event in a certain period of time. As world revolves and progresses, more poems are written. And poems are from our memory, and not only our own memory, for we are like a thread in a huge fabric of generations. He further explained that this fabric today has extended more and more, for knowledge of history and of literature and art of other civilizations increases, and roads are open for traveling through centuries and millennia.

Anyway, I am picking the one from this book:

POETRY READING
by Anna Swir (1909-1984)

I'm curled into a ball
like a dog
that is cold.

Who will tell me
why I was born,
why this monstrosity
called life.

The telephone rings. I have to give
a poetry reading.

I enter.
A hundred people, a hundred pair of eyes.
They look, they wait.
I know for what.

I am supposed to tell them
why they were born,
why there is
this monstrosity called life.

I think this book is a good opening for the poetry reading. This is Milosz's intro to the poem:"Poetry readings are not common in some countries. In others, among them Poland, they draw an audience that doesn't treat poetry as an aesthetic experience only. Rather, in one way or another, such audiences bring to the event their multiple questions about life and death. This poem captures well the ignorance and helplessness of both the poet and her listeners."

By doing poetry reading, our group is trying to make the Philippines join those countries that appreciate not only the aesthetic beauty of poetry but also expanding our understanding of what life is.

I hope that this will be not the first and the last. I think there is something in poetry that everyone can enjoy only if we try to sit down and appreciate this genre. ...more

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Apr 21, 2011 Sarah rated it it was ok

Shelves: poetry, read-in-2011

This anthology was a serious underachiever – I found little excitement in it. Of course there were some good poems, but many of them so well known that they provided little surprise (ever hear of Walt Whitman?).

Part of the problem is Milosz’s apparent love of the Chinese. I almost felt he would have been happier doing a whole anthology of Chinese poets. No disrespect to the Chinese, but I felt I was going to o.d. Chinese poetry is pretty much all contemplation, and unless you're looking exclusi This anthology was a serious underachiever – I found little excitement in it. Of course there were some good poems, but many of them so well known that they provided little surprise (ever hear of Walt Whitman?).

Part of the problem is Milosz’s apparent love of the Chinese. I almost felt he would have been happier doing a whole anthology of Chinese poets. No disrespect to the Chinese, but I felt I was going to o.d. Chinese poetry is pretty much all contemplation, and unless you're looking exclusively for that, they bogged this down. There are also a lot of Polish poets, which again isn’t bad, but it made a strange mix.

Let’s do some math. Of 234 poems, 49 poems were by Chinese poets. 34 were by Polish poets.

40 were by women. Given history, I don’t expect true equality here, but this seems skewed. Oh wait, there was a section called “Women’s Skin,” in which Milosz made an effort to balance by bringing in “woman in her flesh, particularly as described by herself” in a way that gives “voice to her femininity.” This is a short section, as “today there is a plethora of poems written by women, but I do not find many corresponding to my very specific criteria.” I won’t pursue this statement, but basically all I can say is what an asshole.

Milosz includes four poems by the Frenchman Jean Follain, two of which he pretty much prefaces by saying he’s not so sure about the poetry of Jean Follain.

He’s got a couple poems by Linda Gregg, whom he considers one the best American poets, possibly because (?) “she used to come to my classes at Berkeley.”

One starts to wonder what the criteria were for being included in this anthology, which overall is a yawner. And I have yet to mention the worst thing about it – the short introduction to each poem, which was invariably banal and sometimes wasn’t much better than a paraphrasing.

So, if you want a decent anthology of Polish poetry go for Milosz’s Postwar Polish Poetry, which isn't bad. If you want Chinese, there are plenty of excellent anthologies of that country's poets, like One Hundred Poems from the Chinese edited by Kenneth Rexroth. ...more

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Oct 11, 2016 Ken rated it really liked it

Shelves: finished-in-2016, poetry

I bought this, along with a collection of Robert Hass essays, at the Oblong Book Store in Rhinebeck, NY, in the Hudson Valley. Visiting the Valley was more fun than visiting the City, at least for this more-rural sort, and those two books will always remind me of geography--where I was, when I was, why I was--thus gaining stature among books on my bookshelves (most with a more humble pedigree).

What makes this collection is the guiding hand of Czeslaw Milosz, who made it such a personal mix chief ...more

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Jan 28, 2013 Kelly rated it really liked it

Shelves: kindle, cutting_for_pleasure, love, moving, poetry

Nothing Twice
-Wislawa Szymborska

Nothing can ever happen twice.
In consequence, the sorry fact is
that we arrive here improvised
and leave without the chance to practice.

Even if there is no one dumber,
if you're the planet's biggest dunce,
you can't repeat the class in summer:
this course is only offered once.

No day copies yesterday,
no two nights will teach what bliss is
in precisely the same way,
with precisely the same kisses.

One day, perhaps some idle tongue
mentions your name by accident:
I feel as ...more

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Jan 03, 2008 Cami rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Summer Loper, Jessica, anyone who loves poetry

Shelves: poetry

I've been reading this book for 10+ years now. The great thing about poetry anthologies is that you don't have to read it all at once and you can easily pick them up, get something wonderful out of them in under a minute and be better for it.
Anyway, this is a marvelous collection of just what the title implies. It is divided under the following groupings: Epiphany, Nature, The Secret of a Thing, Travel, Places, The Moment, People Among People, Woman's Skin, Situations, Nonattachment and History. ...more

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Oct 11, 2016 Guy rated it liked it

Recommended to Guy by: Ken

My clearest feeling response to this was disappointment. And I have been struggling with why. The poetry chosen by Miłosz was generally very good to excellent, but often enough flat. I somehow felt myself plodding through the collection, rather then dancing or racing. And, even worse, found myself comparing the collection to Robert Bly's enthralling and stimulating collection News of the Universe: Poems of Twofold Consciousness. I am very well aware that it does a disservice to both to compare, My clearest feeling response to this was disappointment. And I have been struggling with why. The poetry chosen by Miłosz was generally very good to excellent, but often enough flat. I somehow felt myself plodding through the collection, rather then dancing or racing. And, even worse, found myself comparing the collection to Robert Bly's enthralling and stimulating collection News of the Universe: Poems of Twofold Consciousness. I am very well aware that it does a disservice to both to compare, but something in Luminous Things kept my mind on it. Perhaps it is my feeling that Miłosz was trying to teach something rather than inspire something.

I do know that a part of my reaction is because I found Miłosz's introductory comments heavy, a bit dull and a bit pedantic in a teacherly tone that put me off. Perhaps this feeling is me getting old. But let me give you an example.

PO CHÜ-I
772-846
Po Chü-I read and respected philosophers. Some people called him a Taoist. Nevertheless, he allowed himself malice in addressing a legendary sage, the creator of Taoism. Let us concede that it's a difficult problem, discovered by similar poets who announce the end of poetry, and yet continue writing.
The Philosophers: Lao-Tzu
"Those who speak know nothing:
Those who know are silent."
Those words, I am told,
Were spoken by Lao-tzu,
If we are to believe that Lao-tzu,
          Was himself one who knew,
How comes it that he wrote a book
          Of five thousand words?
          Translated from the Chinese by Arthur Waley

In this case, not only is the introduction dull, but so is the poem chosen. My reaction to this particular example may be coloured by my having read Taoist stuff for more than 30 years, including the 'problem' of Lao-Tzu's apparent hypocrisy.

I did see some excellent poems, and many new ones to me from writers I like. But, as in the one I am citing below, I found that Miłosz's introduction did not inspire m.

MUSO SOSEKI
1275-1251
Nonattachment and liberation are, in poetry, often associated with old age because the years bring — in any case, they should bring — some wisdom, as in this poem by a Japanese poet.

Old Man At Leisure
Sacred or secular
     manners and conventions
          make no difference to him

Completely free
     leaving it all to heaven
          he seems a simpleton

No one catches
     a glimpse inside
          his mind

this old man
     all by himself
          between heaven and earth
     Translated from the Japanese by W.S. Merton

...more

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May 07, 2015 Ci rated it it was amazing

Shelves: re-read-books

This anthology by Czeslaw Milosz has taught me much about reading poetry. It has also provided me a list of poets’ works for future reading. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is intrigued by the ability of good poems reaching the rarefied realm of consciousness: truth, beauty, sufferings and nobility. These poems are highly distilled; they are also short, vivid and accessible.

There is no T.S. Eliot, because the Milosz made “accessibility” the primary criterion for this anthology. Exce This anthology by Czeslaw Milosz has taught me much about reading poetry. It has also provided me a list of poets’ works for future reading. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is intrigued by the ability of good poems reaching the rarefied realm of consciousness: truth, beauty, sufferings and nobility. These poems are highly distilled; they are also short, vivid and accessible.

There is no T.S. Eliot, because the Milosz made “accessibility” the primary criterion for this anthology. Except a few exceptions, these poems are grounded in tangible sensory reality commonly recognizable by most readers. Milosz likened these poems as “figurative paintings” instead of abstract ones. In addition, these poems are relatively short, rarely running into the second page. Yet the ideas and emotions in most poems are complex. These are not endless rhapsodic chants of moonlights and the beauty of the beloved! Love poems are included, but thankfully limited in numbers.

What is a good poem? As Milosz said, if philosophy can be considered as a generalizing principles, then poetry is about the particulars: the irreducibly subjective experience of human lives. Edward Hirsch used “message in a bottle” as a metaphor for poetry, while I venture to borrow Emily Dickinson’s “salientness” as in “Tell all the truth but tell it slant” to imagine a slant beam of concentrated light shining on an object. These dramatic elements — a single light, surrounding darkness, and the heightened object —bring home the truth. There are several poems fit into this image of a poetic quality that is absolute and epiphanic. A few examples here: Wislawa Szymborska’s “Four in the morning”, Zbigniew Herbert’s “Elegy of Fortinbras”, and Linda Gregg’s “Night Music”.

The author has segmented this collection into different themes, yet I think these themes are general grouping mechanism only. Read them all even if you are not interested in "Nature" or "Travel" in the chapter titles. I am enthralled by most of the poetry in the sections “Epiphany”, “Nature”, “The Moment”, “Nonattachment”, and “History”. I am sure my second reading would enlarge and deepen my appreciation of poems that I have found puzzling in the first read.

On my list of to-read poets are: Robinson Jeffers, Denis Levertov, To Fu (translated Kenneth Rexroth), Anna Swir, Tadeusz Rosewikz, and Rumi.
...more

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May 25, 2015 Johnny rated it really liked it

Shelves: poetry

I don't know how I would begin to review a poetry anthology, especially as my interactions with them are typically one hitter quitters, dropping in for one poem, tumbling it for a bit, and dropping back into the world. They almost become reference, right?

This works well not as a reference but as something to read through, pages at a time. My attention span doesn't allow for me to stay in one steady line for too long, and the swamps of poems (these are good swamps) swamp me in in a real way.

But t ...more

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Jan 16, 2008 Laura rated it liked it

Shelves: poetry

This was good, but I didn't love it. I was surprised not to love it, considering I like so many of the poets represented here. But I didn't love it. The choice of poems was - I don't know, deliberately non-magical, maybe? I'm all for everyday life - I'm a big fan of taking the ordinary and making it strange. But many of these poems were all ordinary, no strange. That said, it does have some wonders. ...more

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Dec 31, 2008 Tara rated it it was amazing

Shelves: poetry

A really wonderful anthology of international poets. Some of them are pretty old, like 1,000 years or so - but there are also lots of contemporary poets, and often the two are showcased side by side. Milosz also gives a little preface or description before a new poet or poem. Since the poems vary widely in geography, culture, and history, these little snippets really helped me to appreciate each poem and learn something new or fun.

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Oct 28, 2016 Edita rated it liked it

Shelves: czesław-miłosz, anthology, poetry

There’s a traveler mad with grief,
no doubt seeing odd things;
he talks to himself, and when he looks
wipes us out with his look.
— Antonio Machado

Poor moth, I can’t help you,
I can only turn out the light.
— Ryszard Krynicki

Autumn, cloud blades on the horizon.
The west wind blows from ten thousand miles.
[…]
A single wild goose climbs into the void.
— Tu Fu

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Apr 10, 2018 Bethany rated it it was amazing

In any anthology of poetry, some poetry is a hit and some is a miss. This book had a wide variety of hits. I adore poetry, in all it's forms, and even the old English poems that involved dense language and intricate rhyming schemes were still interesting and easy enough to understand. I love that Milosz specifically wanted to choose poems that were easy to read and easy to understand.

This book was light and refreshing and represents everything I adore about poetry. ...more

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Mar 05, 2010 Kathryn rated it it was amazing

Oh this book! Best anthology of poetry I have ever picked up. I will be eternally in debt to my professor. This book didn't cover Shakespeare, Milton or Frost but translations from the Chinese, Polish and authors you have never heard of before! In a wonderfully surprising way that made me read for days like a novel. Excellent. If you don't own a copy, do. ...more

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Dec 28, 2017 Claxton rated it it was amazing

I know -- big deal, another poetry anthology. Still, I love this one because I dig the editor's tastes, and I love that he chose poetry that is life affirming. He says, "I rejoice in being able to make an anthology as this one, and it may be a source of optimism that in this cruel century such an anthology could be made." Amen. ...more

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Jan 02, 2021 Kayla rated it really liked it

This book, a birthday present from a dear friend, will keep on giving. I have already read a few poems several times. Czeslaw Milosz curates poems from all over the world and from all different ages. I love good anthologies because they lead to the discovery of poets you may have heard of but have not picked up yet: in this case, Kenneth Rexroth, Anna Swir, and Tu Fu. Old favorites Mary Oliver, Elizabeth Bishop, and Tomas Transtromer are part of the poetry party, as well.

Utterance

Sitting over w ...more

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Jan 14, 2021 Anna Keating rated it it was amazing

Shelves: recommended

So good. Every poem was new to me, and Milosz' brief thoughts on each poem, it's magic, like having tea with him. A must read. Something I return to. A great consolation. ...more

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May 20, 2020 Rajeswari rated it it was amazing

Such beautiful poetry !!!! Love it with all my heart

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Oct 03, 2017 Jobie rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-2017

It was a decent selection of poems. Fewer indigenous tribal poems and a bit heavy on Polish poets.

Some time of the editor's comments were frustrating. Several times based on his comments it was obvious he didn't understand them poem. Once he even said "I feel this is a good poem." Really? His ridiculous commentary almost ruined the anthology for me. If it's not going to add insight into my deeper understanding of the poem, just don't say anything.

The stars are for the poems, NOT for the editor' ...more

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Sep 29, 2015 Angela Blount rated it really liked it

Shelves: poetry

A refreshing and diverse collection of poetic verse—pleasingly varied in length, structure, linguistic roots, country origins, religious influence, and author obscurity.

This reader tends to view poetry as a meditative exercise as well as a sort of literary palette cleanser. To that end, this book was largely effective. I felt it expanded my exposure, and reaffirmed my impression that certain forms agree with me. (i.e. the cadence of many ancient Chinese poems, the impactful word choices of Walt
A refreshing and diverse collection of poetic verse—pleasingly varied in length, structure, linguistic roots, country origins, religious influence, and author obscurity.

This reader tends to view poetry as a meditative exercise as well as a sort of literary palette cleanser. To that end, this book was largely effective. I felt it expanded my exposure, and reaffirmed my impression that certain forms agree with me. (i.e. the cadence of many ancient Chinese poems, the impactful word choices of Walt Whitman (whom the collector seems to favor) the pragmatism of May Swenson, and the acumen of Emily Dickenson.)

The details of whom, when, and in what language, aids in the orienting of each piece. But occasionally Milosz’s additional commentary—which is given prior to each and every poem—seemed to overwhelm the work itself, and perhaps delve too deeply into the realm of supposition.

Topical categories include: Epiphany, Nature, The Secret Of A Thing, Travel, Places, The Moment, Woman’s Skin, Situations, Nonattachment, and History.
This reader’s personal favorite of all sections would be Nonattachment. It also contains my favorite poem in the entire anthology:

CONTRABAND, by Denise Levertov (circa 1923)

’The tree of knowledge was the tree of reason.
That's why the taste of it
drove us from Eden. That fruit
was meant to be dried and milled to a fine powder
for use a pinch at a time, a condiment.
God had probably planned to tell us later
about this new pleasure.
We stuffed our mouths full of it,
gorged on but and if and how and again
but, knowing no better.
It's toxic in large quantities; fumes
swirled in our heads and around us
to form a dense cloud that hardened to steel,
a wall between us and God, Who was Paradise.
Not that God is unreasonable – but reason
in such excess was tyranny
and locked us into its own limits, a polished cell
reflecting our own faces. God lives
on the other side of that mirror,
but through the slit where the barrier doesn't
quite touch ground, manages still
to squeeze in – as filtered light,
splinters of fire, a strain of music heard
then lost, then heard again.’

The shortest piece I came across was called ‘I CAN’T HELP YOU’—translated from Polish and dense with profundity.

“Poor moth, I can’t help you,
I can only turn out the light.”
...more

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Mar 21, 2015 Eric Perry rated it it was amazing

Imagine having a writer whom you respect, who also happens to be a Nobel Prize laureate, recommend a few poems. Czeslaw Milosz has done this for us. I like to think of it as a gateway book to poetry in the same way that viewing a performance of one of Shakespeare's comedies may be a better introduction than reading Julius Caesar in the tenth grade. Milosz has selected poems according to accessibility and length. To those developing a taste for poetry he has selected works that are vivid and enga ...more

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Aug 17, 2013 Martin lyon rated it liked it

The three poems I choose were: The August Afternoon
The Window
Black Meat

I decided to choose The August Afternoon poem because my birthdays in August.
I choose The Window because in books at night people always look at the window and freak.
I choose Black Meat because I like eating meat for dinner.
This book fits onto Three Poems or short stories from one anthology.
I found all of them interesting. The August afternoon was about someone and his mother taking a walk. The Window is about a storm that ...more

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Oct 27, 2011 Glen rated it really liked it

A rich and varied collection by a Nobel laureate, noteworthy for an especially generous sampling of old Chinese poetry. Sometimes the editorial comments are longer than the poems, but overall a book I'm glad I experienced. ...more

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Jan 05, 2008 Summer rated it really liked it

Recommended to Summer by: Cami

A stunning collection. I was blown away by the sections on the body, and women's self image-some achingly poignant. Confession: some skimming throughout ...more

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Jan 26, 2020 Edgar Trevizo rated it it was amazing

I'd give it eight stars if I could. This is the most beautiful poetry anthology I've ever read. You seriously want it near you, every day for the rest of your days. ...more

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Jul 22, 2020 Julia B. rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-that-changed-my-life

Epiphany may also mean a privileged moment in our life among the things of this world, in which they suddenly reveal something we have not noticed until now, and that something is like an intimation of their mysterious, hidden side. In a way, poetry is an attempt to break through the density of reality into a zone where the simplest things are again as fresh as if they were being seen by a child. (5)

So I am not a big poetry reader. My reading mostly consists of (1) romance novels, (2) academic h Epiphany may also mean a privileged moment in our life among the things of this world, in which they suddenly reveal something we have not noticed until now, and that something is like an intimation of their mysterious, hidden side. In a way, poetry is an attempt to break through the density of reality into a zone where the simplest things are again as fresh as if they were being seen by a child. (5)

So I am not a big poetry reader. My reading mostly consists of (1) romance novels, (2) academic history papers, and (3) medieval texts written by monks who have been dead for a thousand years ((omg idk I'm just so ~quirky~ like that)). I was excited for this book to arrive at my doorstep because, while I have a few poets I'm devoted to like Anne Carson and Sylvia Plath, I don't have an anthology of multiple different poets, especially not ones from different places and time periods covering a range of themes. Czesław Miłosz was a godsend. I needed him to handpick these simple, short poems and I also needed him to lay out the meaning and context of each poem like I was in first grade and the only poet I knew was Dr. Seuss. (I am a very, very bad poetry-reader, you guys. This point cannot be overemphasized.) The intentions of these poems are distilled; no words are wasted. The simplicity of language in most of them is just so beautiful and comforting and moving. I have accrued so many new favourite poets I didn't even know existed and I am 100% absolutely looking them all up. There are also a number of poems written by poets who are very well-known, like Walt Whitman and the ever-beloved Rumi (and I'm sure the Chinese poets are also very famous, I just hadn't encountered them myself). So, this book was perfect for me. I fell in love with poetry.

But speaking of those Chinese poets... I would like to address the concerns other people have raised in their Goodreads reviews; concerns that I think are completely valid, but ultimately subjective. I didn't mind that there were so many poems from Ancient China, because I had never read them before and I loved them. Same goes for all the 20th-century Eastern European authors. This anthology comes across as a deeply personal selection for Miłosz and so it reflects his own tastes more than it does a truly diverse international scope. There are certainly better anthologies for that purpose. What this particular collection aimed to do is capture poems of simple observation, which was/is a very popular genre in Chinese poetry, so it makes sense to me that so many were there. I could be upset that no medieval monks were included—but I am not, because they would make everything about Jesus, and that's not what this collection is about (no shade on them though). So to conclude, for me personally this worked wonders, but I do think it's a question of what you're looking for. ...more

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Apr 28, 2020 Victoria Foote-Blackman rated it it was amazing

Shelves: poetry

A remarkable compendium of international poetry, with each poem lovingly selected, introduced and commented on by the late great 20th century Polish poet Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004). It was first published in 1996. He has organized some 300 poems into unusual, overarching themes: Epiphany, Nature, The Secret of a Thing, Travel, Places, The Moment, People Among People, Woman's Skin, Situations, Nonattachment, and History. Some of these categories are more successful than others, and some could hav A remarkable compendium of international poetry, with each poem lovingly selected, introduced and commented on by the late great 20th century Polish poet Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004). It was first published in 1996. He has organized some 300 poems into unusual, overarching themes: Epiphany, Nature, The Secret of a Thing, Travel, Places, The Moment, People Among People, Woman's Skin, Situations, Nonattachment, and History. Some of these categories are more successful than others, and some could have had better headings. (For "Woman's Skin" something simply like "Touch" would not only have been more pc but more accurate as well.)

Milosz is not bashful about his choices. He clearly has little time for the 20th century's all too frequent highly personal but obscure verse much touted and little understood, and which has given poetry such a bad name. He deliberately omits T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land, for example. In the general introduction Miloscz writes: "My proposition consists in presenting poems whether contemporary or a thousand years old, that are, with few exceptions, short, clear, readable and, to use a compromised term, realist, that is, loyal toward reality and attempting to describe it as concisely as possible. Thus they undermine the widely held opinion that poetry is a misty domain eluding understanding." The result is a highly readable, yet deeply textured volume that explores all manner of human and animal existence, rich with observation and of feeling, from across the globe. Many works are translated, with the translator receiving full credit.

Milosz gives his own countrymen and women their rightful due, including some of the work of such remarkable poets as Anna Swir, and Wislawa Zymborska. In "Nature" Miloscz has also included a number of remarkably prescient and insightful poems about animals and our ambiguous relationship to them. He is also deeply informed and guided by Buddhist teachings and their impact on any number of poets is beautifully served here. Chinese poetry is present throughout these pages and most especially and predictably in the section called "Nonattachment." In the last section, "History," he clearly speaks of himself and his long commitment to political and social ideals when he writes: "Poets have been internally divided, knowing that they should serve art, but at the same time feeling a moral compulsion to be politically committed." Alas, while some of the poems are breathtakingly powerful others are heavy-handed, or lose something in translation. But this is quibbling. Mostly this volume is a a mother lode of remarkable international voices, hailing from many countries and across the centuries. ...more

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Feb 11, 2021 CJ rated it it was ok

Shelves: cannonball-read, poetry

I don't think I've read a poetry anthology since college -- and even then, I mostly just read the poems we were studying and ignored both the commentary and all the other poems. A Norton Anthology of Poetry can be a very intimidating book, after all.

I didn't actually intend to read one this time, either. However, I happened to come across a poem by Eastern European poet Czesław Miłosz which I liked, and when I googled him I discovered he'd edited this anthology. I figured it might be nice to br I don't think I've read a poetry anthology since college -- and even then, I mostly just read the poems we were studying and ignored both the commentary and all the other poems. A Norton Anthology of Poetry can be a very intimidating book, after all.

I didn't actually intend to read one this time, either. However, I happened to come across a poem by Eastern European poet Czesław Miłosz which I liked, and when I googled him I discovered he'd edited this anthology. I figured it might be nice to branch out and experience some new poets, so I picked it up.

When I started reading, I really appreciated what Miłosz had to say about the poems, why he'd included them, and how they related to each section of the anthology. He had some really great stuff to say about how poets over the centuries relate to nature, and why he like and had selected each poem. The selection leaned pretty heavily on Eastern European and ancient Chinese poets, but since I really like EE poetry and don't have a lot of experience with ancient Chinese poetry, I figured that would be a nice broadening experience.

After a while, I began to wonder if maybe Miłosz should have just done an anthology of Chinese poetry instead.

Still, I read on.

Then there came the chapter entitled "Women's Skin" which was ostensibly about women.

Except only maybe a third of the poems were BY women. And of those that were, Miłosz was...somewhat uncomplimentary? As I read, I began to get a very distinct feeling that Miłosz was not super fond of women, or very interested in their work. His little descriptions and notes about the poems felt almost snide in their dismissiveness.

After that, while I finished the book, I no longer trusted or appreciated Miłosz's observations.

It's a shame, because I really did enjoy some of the poems. I probably would still even enjoy Miłosz's poems, but there are other places to find those.

I would not recommend this book -- if you're interested in Chinese poetry from the 700s, you could probably find an anthology by a Chinese author that would be better, same with the modern Eastern European poets. ...more

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Jul 19, 2020 R. Allain rated it it was amazing

For me, and one must suspect there are others, poetry labors under an unfortunate cloud. A cloud of inaccessibility. While one grasps by its nature - not to mention its penchant for elitism - poetry operates on elevated terrain. But like Moses, it must (or at least should occasionally) leave the damn summit. And with Czeslaw Milosz' deft powers of finding gems in this genre, his selections and brief comments seldom disappoint. For herein, the Nobel laureate performs a considerable literary, and ...more

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May 17, 2020 Robert Hudder rated it liked it

Sometimes, poetry seems to try to hard and not have any connection. Whether slam that requests that you witness, or maybe some type of classical poetry that tries to get at Truth.

These aren't those poems. This collection from all over the place at different times feels fresh. The focus is on a being more present and real, for a lack of a better term. These are poems about objects and things. Less flower and description and more sparse and hard.

There are some surprising poems here. Some poets t ...more

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About Czesław Miłosz

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Czesław Miłosz was a Nobel Prize winning poet and author of Polish-Lithuanian heritage. He memorialised his Lithuanian childhood in a 1955 novel, The Issa Valley , and in the 1959 memoir Native Realm . After graduating from Sigismund Augustus Gymnasium in Vilnius, he studied law at Stefan Batory University and in 1931 he travelled to Paris, where he was influenced by his distant cousin Oscar ...more

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“Since poetry deals with the singular, not the general, it cannot - if it is good poetry - look at things of this earth other than as colorful, variegated, and exciting, and so, it cannot reduce life, with all its pain, horror, suffering, and ecstasy, to a unified tonality of boredom and complaint. By necessity poetry is therefore on the side of being and against nothingness.” — 12 likes

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