Unattainable Earth,

Czeslaw Milosz

HarperCollins, Sep 21, 1987 - Poetry - 141 pages

Begun in the winter of 1955 and completed in the spring of 1956, Treatise on Poetry is a brilliant meditative poem fully expressive of the powers that have made Milosz one of our greatest writers. Expertly translated, the poem is divided into four parts -- Europe at the turn of the century, the condition of Polish culture between the two world wars, the harsh reality of World War II, and the role of the poet in the postwar world. Here Milosz addresses the failure of early-20th-century Polish poetry. With vast historical sweep and in language that enables readers to see "as if in a flash of summer lighting", Milosz offers a fascinating account of the mysterious art of poetry.

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Review: Unattainable Earth

User Review  - Eric - Goodreads

Possibly one of the best contemporary books of poetry ever written. Reaffirms one's faith in poetry and its power to move us.

About the author

Czeslaw Milosz was born in Szetejnie, Lithuania, in 1911. He worked with the Polish resistance movement in Warsaw during World War II and was later stationed in Paris and Washington, D.C., as a Polish cultural attaché. He defected to France in 1951, and in 1960 he accepted a position at the University of California, Berkeley. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1980, and was a member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. He died in 2004.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Unattainable Earth,
• Author: Czeslaw Milosz
• Publisher: HarperCollins, 1987
• ISBN: 0880011025, 9780880011020
• Length: 141 pages
• Subjects: Poetry / General