Selected Poems: 1931-2004

“One of the century’s most important poets.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

“One of the greatest poets of our time, perhaps the greatest.”
—Joseph Brodsky

“Nobody tells the story of this age better than Czeslaw Milosz.”
—New Republic

Commemorating the centenary year of Nobel Laureate Czeslaw Milosz, Selected and Last Poems 1934 - 2004 is a sterling collection of some of the finest works of one the most revered poets of our time—including more than forty later poems new to this edition and never before published in English. Selected and Last Poems is a perfect introduction for poetry readers who might still be unfamiliar with this literary giant’s monumental body of work.

Selected Poems: 1931-2004

celebrates Czeslaw Milosz's lifetime of poetry. Widely regarded as one of the greatest poets of our time, Milosz is a master of expression and probing inquiry. Life opened for Czeslaw Milosz at a crossroads of civilizations in northeastern Europe. This was less a melting pot than a torrent of languages and ideas, where old folk traditions met Catholic, Protestant, Judaic, and Orthodox rites. What unfolded next around him was a century of catastrophe and madness: two world wars, revolutions, invasions, and the murder of tens of millions, all set to a cacophony of hymns, gunfire, national anthems, and dazzling lies. In the thick of this upheaval, wide awake and in awe of living, dodging shrapnel, imprisonment, and despair, Milosz tried to understand both history and the moment, with humble respect for the suffering of each individual. He read voraciously in many languages and wrote masterful poetry that, even in translation, is infused with a tireless spirit and a penetrating insight into fundamental human dilemmas and the staggering yet simple truth that "to exist on the earth is beyond any power to name." Unflinching, outspoken, timeless, and unsentimental, Milosz digs through the rubble of the past, forging a vision -- and a warning -- that encompasses both pain and joy. "His intellectual life," writes Seamus Heaney, "could be viewed as a long single combat with shape-shifting untruth."

“For many people, poetry is consolation, a balm to soothe personal and collective wounds. In the hands of the late Czeslaw Milosz, it is also razor sharp.” - Christian Science Monitor

“Milosz continues exploring his own version of the meditative lyric, refusing to rest on his laurels…Consequently, he joins the ranks of other great poets of old age, such as Robert Penn Warren and W. B. Yeats himself.” - New York Times Book Review

“The work of Milosz reminds us of how much power poetry gains from bearing within itself an unforced, natural, and long-ranging memory of past customs; a sense of the strata of ancient and modern history; a wide visual experience; and a knowledge of many languages and literatures.” - Helen Vendler

“Nobody tells the story of this age better than Czeslaw Milosz.” - New Republic

“One of the century’s most important poets.” - San Francisco Chronicle