(30 June 1911 – 14 August 2004 / Kedainiai)

poet Czeslaw Milosz
#133 on top 500 poets
Previous Month July 2013 Next Month
Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30 31 1 2 3 4
Modern Poem of The Day
Select a day from the calendar.
Would you like to see the poem of the day in your e-mail box every morning?
Your email address:
  Subscribe FREE
  Unsubscribe

Incantation

Human reason is beautiful and invincible.
No bars, no barbed wire, no pulping of books,
No sentence of banishment can prevail against it.
........................
........................
read full text »



Comments about this poem (Incantation by Czeslaw Milosz )

Enter the verification code :

  • Miroslava Odalovic (7/4/2012 12:41:00 PM)

    Was struck by this optimism as well and couldn't believe my eyes. Nothing like Milosz indeed.
    As a matter of fact
    It saves austere and transparent phrases
    From the filthy discord of tortured words.

    reminded me of 'honest inteligetia' concept (just a personal association) . This is indeed a highly complex writing with a 20th century circumference...so nothing new under the sun?

    1 person liked.
    		0 person did not like.
  • Doris Voina (1/15/2012 8:05:00 AM)

    This poem is highly ironic. Actually, this is Milosz's irony at its best.
    I think the actual meaning of incantation here is probably 'series of many words, that hide lack of content'. Milosz's praise of human reason here is absolutely contrary to what his philosophy endorses... look up Lev Shestov's works. it's indeed interesting :)

    2 person liked.
    		3 person did not like.
  • Marilyn Hochfield (3/12/2009 6:33:00 PM)

    Magari! as the Italians would say. How we wish for this enchanted place!

    3 person liked.
    		0 person did not like.

PoemHunter.com Updates

Top 500 Poems

  1. Phenomenal Woman
    Maya Angelou
  2. The Road Not Taken
    Robert Frost
  3. Still I Rise
    Maya Angelou
  4. If You Forget Me
    Pablo Neruda
  5. Dreams
    Langston Hughes
  6. Annabel Lee
    Edgar Allan Poe
  7. If
    Rudyard Kipling
  8. A Dream Within A Dream
    Edgar Allan Poe
  9. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
    Maya Angelou
  10. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
    Robert Frost
The Complete List of Top 500 Poems »
[Hata Bildir]