THE COSMOS OF MANICHAEAN ELEMENTS IN THE EARLY POEMS OF CZESLAW MILOSZ

• Authors: Kazmierczyk Z.
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

This article examines some elements of Gnostic existentialism and Manichaean aspects of Nature in the early poems of Czeslaw Milosz. The analyses attempt to trace in 'The Poem on Frozen Time', 'Three Winters' and a selection of interwar poems all references to a fundamental flawin Creation, Nature's immanent evil, or the ineradicable cruelty of being. The evidence is significant enough to suggest some kind of dramatic initiation on the part of Milosz's poetic persona, involving an experience of alienation in a vast and at the same time enclosed space, exposure to the tyranny of time, and a yearning to transcend the boundaries of existence amid the fearful elements of fire, earth, water and smoke. The author of the article tries to prove that the young poet chose the discourse of Manichaean elements to describe his experience of the cosmos.

Keywords

EN

GNOSTIC EXISTENTIALISM; MANICHAEAN VIEW; POLISH POETRY (20TH C.) MILOSZ CZESLAW

Discipline

• PHILOLOGY_&_LINGUISTICS: PHILOLOGY & LINGUISTICS

• Publisher: Polska Akademia Nauk
• Journal: Ruch Literacki
• Year: 2007
• Volume: 48
• Issue: 4-5
• Pages: 489-498
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Kazmierczyk Z.

• Z. Kazmierczyk, Uniwersytet Gdanski, Instytut Filologii Polskiej, ul. W. Stwosza 55, 89-952 Gdansk, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

07PLAAAA03296808