Irresolute Heresiarch, Catholicism, Gnosticism and Paganism in the Poetry of Czesław Miłosz
Irresolute Heresiarch, Catholicism, Gnosticism and Paganism in the Poetry of Czesław Miłosz

Summary/Abstract: Eight years after the death of Czesław Miłosz and one hundred and two years after his birth, the time has perhaps come for critical appraisals of his life and work, issues that have long been located in the eye of a storm about Miłosz’s political and religious affiliations, his patriotism, and his art. This book attempts to do so. Having recently read Milosz’s abundant correspondence (published by Czytelnik in Warsaw in 2008–2011) with Jerzy Giedroyć, the founder and editor of the émigré monthly Kultura, fresh in my memory are the insights into the characters and priorities of both writers (as revealed by the letters). As a faithful reader of Miłosz’s poetry, I felt intrigued by the subtitle of Kraszewski’s book. My own relation to Catholicism (a religion not inculcated in my childhood, but rather consciously chosen in adulthood) and an extensive collection of Christian, Catholic, Gnostic, and mystic writers Kraszewski promised to deal with also piqued my interest. I hoped that Kraszewski found in Miłosz’s work what I discovered in the poet’s magnificent translations of the Psalms (Księga Psalmów, published by KUL in 1982). These are the Psalms worth praying in Polish, they are more inspired than the pedestrian version in the Biblia Tysiąclecia, 4th ed. (The Millennium Bible, published by Pallotinum in Poznań in 1984, the translation sanctioned by Polish Catholic bishops for Catholic worship)

• Details
• Contents