I really love the artwork you include in these posts, many times I look up the artist and marvel at their works. Thank you for including these visual treats.
It is of utmost importance to understand what “reason” means to Czesław Miłosz. Miłosz is not a modern human being. He is Catholic, traditional, and stands in the tradition of Thomas Aquinas.
For Aquinas, reason is an appetite that is responsive to the intellect’s estimations of what is good or choiceworthy.
That is, reason sees the good of things through the intellect and wants to attain this good through the will.
We have turned reason into our ability to do propositional logic correctly. That does not get us very far. Since the Enlightenment, we also have limited ourselves to the material world, changing the notion of good and evil. This kind of reason does not (always) stand up to barbwire and bars.
The same is true for philosophy, the love of wisdom. Aquinas defines wisdom as the knowledge of the goodness of God and of his power and the right reason for doing things. Many interpret philosophy in the poem as a stand-in for science, mostly based on their interpretation of reason.
We could therefore say that reason and love for wisdom stand for the aim towards the good as defined by the highest authority (God) for the right reasons (not fear of judgement, but love). Poetry as metaphorical narrative can portray to us the goodness, as prose often is limited to do so.
In a post everything world, I am sad that appeals to Reason and Truth as the answer will by some be immediately read as structural power problems. I am sad if they are right and these are not the answer. I am sad if they are wrong and these are the answer. But I tend to believe in the unicorns and echoes, not because woo woo kumbaya, but because many of the people saying these things are people who came out of unimaginable horror. How is it that many forms of shelter and luck and protection create a filmy imagination of the worst sort of pointlessness?
To be more blunt, I’m a child of working class people, raised in a cult, and the only thing that saved me was a belief in these things over all. “Follow the truth wherever it leads” led me out of a repressive religion (and my wife and 2 daughters too). But my success in life will be labeled as white privilege and the “myth” of meritocracy and so my belief in these things is a sign of my hopelessly backward no-longer-in-style classical liberalism, or just Gen X cluelessness. TS Eliot is probably not popular in critical studies. I could be wrong. Maybe they deserve criticism. I don’t know. But it’s impossible to engage with this text without all of that ur-text or subtext.
I understand (I think) and share many of your Gen X intuitions - and am also very moved by your insight that many ppl coming out of "unimaginable horror" (Milosz included) believe, as you say, "in the unicorns and echoes".
I have had an experience where live music had a deep, profound effect on me in the moment. The music broke a stronghold in me. Jesus wept. I know what that i, to weep..
As for the Incantation poem, I believe it’s the latter, a prayer. Not a religious prayer but a literary prayer. However, ultimately the truth of the poem and life on earth, is that the poem is both optimistic and pessimistic. The human heart and mind is a two edged sword...
My own response to Milosz's 'Incantation' echoes that of Rebecca Johns in her comment below. She wrote, "This reminds me of waking up choosing whether to save the world or savor the world. It can be a chronic tension and a choice to play with both."
-- Yes, yes, and how true that is for me as well ... The paradox feels truly well worth musing, with no expectation of resolving the balancing opposites implied. My favourite line is, ''Opens the congealed fist of the past". The adjective 'congealed' is applied oddly here, to a fist! When I saw that the poem was translated by Milosz and by Robert Pinsky together, I knew this English word choice to be utterly, vitally deliberate. A definition: 'to change from a soft or fluid state to a rigid or solid state, as by cooling or freezing: The fat congealed on the top of the soup. Synonyms: solidify, jell, set, harden. to curdle; coagulate, as a fluid.' dictionarydotcom
And here if You too care to ponder and enjoy is Robert Pinsky himself reading this poem on youtube (1:45 min), quietly, with his special grasp -- as co-translator -- of its stirring, intertwining energies:
Thanks, Susan! We can both bow to my late Mum, gone now for 41 years -- back in the 1970's, she introduced mid-twentyish me to Czeslaw Milosz's poetry around the same time as we celebrated my M.A. in EngLit and my first pregnancy. His works remained among her top favourites lifelong.
Tho' Mum was herself a grad in ChemPhys, she was very much a renaissance woman in the scope of her heartfelt interests -- 'twas she who also introduced me to JRR Tolkien's works in both poetry and prose.
I'd been a very difficult teenager, and was relieved beyond words to have had time to grow fully appreciative of her and her many gifts. She was never a 'difficult mother', thank goodness, because, as the fourth and final kiddo, late in her thirties, I sure tested -- and benefited from -- her uncanny insight and unspoken yet enacted patience and support of this quiet yet turbulent 'hsp' here.
By sharing her own enthusiasms in literature and art, she opened my way to touch into the magic of the expressive arts. All it ever takes for me to thank her again is a glimpse of anything by Czeslaw Milosz!
To top all this off, it was my teen daughter who introduced me to the poetry of Wisława Szymborska around 1992! Kinda blessed thus, me ... !
Hi there, when I first read the poem, especially the beginning, I felt a whole lot of fear. I think I have tortured myself with reason... that it is that that has fuelled a lot of the shame and worry that have dominated my life. Reason itself has felt like a cage condemning me. As I read through the rest though, especially the mention of poetry as an ally, and learning about Philos-Sophia and Wolfgang Smith, it brought to me the thought that perhaps it isn't reason that has been the difficulty, but instead the doctrine mine has followed and the lack of art and heart. I do think reason without heart, curiosity and imagination often is a loveless, lifeless prison, that misses the beauty and wonder that is present in our world, each other, reality - especially the bittersweet kind... and that reason can be hijacked. But I now also see how as an ally with curiosity, heart and imagination, it has an important role to play, as we humans navigate the world. Especially its' ability to remain neutral... approach everything as new, rather than tainted by all the baggage which can obscure the present moment.
When I read the last line, "Their enemies have delivered themselves to destruction.", I first thought 'Their' meant Sophia and poetry. But when I re-read and sat with the poem in totality, I sense 'Their' to mean reason and Sophia. I hear it as a prayer of gratitude! (My favorite line is, "It is an enemy of despair and a friend of hope."
I never say no to more poetry, what a great read (both this poem and community comments from the previous one)! I too think it’s a bit of both — sometimes humans “reasonably” conclude terrible things, and poetry and literature can make Truth come alive without necessarily being true. Unicorns and dragons may (or may not) exist, but our stories about them have something essential to impart to ourselves and others. I especially liked the lines “giving us the estate of the earth to manage”; and the phrase turned on its head in: “[human reason] says that everything is new under the sun.” Thank you Susan for such good food for thought to jumpstart my weekend reading!
I think in these times humans seem to lack reason. Hopefully humans will once again come to their senses before it’s too late for our planet. “It is an enemy of despair and a friend of hope.
It does not know Jew from Greek or slave from master.” These words really resonate with me. My hope is humans will wake-up and human reason will lead the way to a positive outcome for us all.
I think that both are true. Human reason cannot be overcome by bars or barbed wire. And still, it is a statement of quiet despair. An easy solution to that conundrum would be the lack of human reason in the world, another the youth of poetry and philosophy.
I believe that the poem talks about possibilities, not manifestations.
Then, I am glad that he added poetry into the mix because reason alone will not do what he expects.
Thank you, Susan for the incantation! It is beautiful, I also like the artwork, especially the one by Ben More! Thank you for sharing!
The poem made me question, myself, my views of the world - I’ve always loved philosophy and poetry, but nowadays claim ‘no time’ - it’s true, to some extent, but it’s also a question of priority - so incantation is kind of a wake of call for me!
I’ve seen the film ‘old man and the sea’ when I was a teenager and didn’t like it - at all! don’t remember why I started reading the book and adored it! I’d also say that is one on top of my list!
Susan, there is just something about your writing that feels soulful and fills my spirit with hope. Thank you for sharing. I interpreted it to be a prayer. I also copied down the poem Margy Houtz shared by Wendell Berry, The Peace of Wild Things, has the most beautiful line "I rest in the grace of the world, and am free." Reminds me of the feeling of letting go and trusting life is working for you. <3
Dear Susan,
I really love the artwork you include in these posts, many times I look up the artist and marvel at their works. Thank you for including these visual treats.
It is of utmost importance to understand what “reason” means to Czesław Miłosz. Miłosz is not a modern human being. He is Catholic, traditional, and stands in the tradition of Thomas Aquinas.
For Aquinas, reason is an appetite that is responsive to the intellect’s estimations of what is good or choiceworthy.
That is, reason sees the good of things through the intellect and wants to attain this good through the will.
We have turned reason into our ability to do propositional logic correctly. That does not get us very far. Since the Enlightenment, we also have limited ourselves to the material world, changing the notion of good and evil. This kind of reason does not (always) stand up to barbwire and bars.
The same is true for philosophy, the love of wisdom. Aquinas defines wisdom as the knowledge of the goodness of God and of his power and the right reason for doing things. Many interpret philosophy in the poem as a stand-in for science, mostly based on their interpretation of reason.
We could therefore say that reason and love for wisdom stand for the aim towards the good as defined by the highest authority (God) for the right reasons (not fear of judgement, but love). Poetry as metaphorical narrative can portray to us the goodness, as prose often is limited to do so.
I so appreciate this comment, Ralph. I read it 3x and hope to return to it.
The poem definitely strikes a cord with me for the popular saying; You are what you think.
In a post everything world, I am sad that appeals to Reason and Truth as the answer will by some be immediately read as structural power problems. I am sad if they are right and these are not the answer. I am sad if they are wrong and these are the answer. But I tend to believe in the unicorns and echoes, not because woo woo kumbaya, but because many of the people saying these things are people who came out of unimaginable horror. How is it that many forms of shelter and luck and protection create a filmy imagination of the worst sort of pointlessness?
To be more blunt, I’m a child of working class people, raised in a cult, and the only thing that saved me was a belief in these things over all. “Follow the truth wherever it leads” led me out of a repressive religion (and my wife and 2 daughters too). But my success in life will be labeled as white privilege and the “myth” of meritocracy and so my belief in these things is a sign of my hopelessly backward no-longer-in-style classical liberalism, or just Gen X cluelessness. TS Eliot is probably not popular in critical studies. I could be wrong. Maybe they deserve criticism. I don’t know. But it’s impossible to engage with this text without all of that ur-text or subtext.
I understand (I think) and share many of your Gen X intuitions - and am also very moved by your insight that many ppl coming out of "unimaginable horror" (Milosz included) believe, as you say, "in the unicorns and echoes".
I have had an experience where live music had a deep, profound effect on me in the moment. The music broke a stronghold in me. Jesus wept. I know what that i, to weep..
As for the Incantation poem, I believe it’s the latter, a prayer. Not a religious prayer but a literary prayer. However, ultimately the truth of the poem and life on earth, is that the poem is both optimistic and pessimistic. The human heart and mind is a two edged sword...
what an insightful comment - thank you.
And I've had that experience of music too.
My own response to Milosz's 'Incantation' echoes that of Rebecca Johns in her comment below. She wrote, "This reminds me of waking up choosing whether to save the world or savor the world. It can be a chronic tension and a choice to play with both."
-- Yes, yes, and how true that is for me as well ... The paradox feels truly well worth musing, with no expectation of resolving the balancing opposites implied. My favourite line is, ''Opens the congealed fist of the past". The adjective 'congealed' is applied oddly here, to a fist! When I saw that the poem was translated by Milosz and by Robert Pinsky together, I knew this English word choice to be utterly, vitally deliberate. A definition: 'to change from a soft or fluid state to a rigid or solid state, as by cooling or freezing: The fat congealed on the top of the soup. Synonyms: solidify, jell, set, harden. to curdle; coagulate, as a fluid.' dictionarydotcom
And here if You too care to ponder and enjoy is Robert Pinsky himself reading this poem on youtube (1:45 min), quietly, with his special grasp -- as co-translator -- of its stirring, intertwining energies:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1NcQ8_bQuo
oh wow - thank you so much for all of this, Catharine, I wouldn't have thought of any of it nor did I know of this video.
Thanks, Susan! We can both bow to my late Mum, gone now for 41 years -- back in the 1970's, she introduced mid-twentyish me to Czeslaw Milosz's poetry around the same time as we celebrated my M.A. in EngLit and my first pregnancy. His works remained among her top favourites lifelong.
Tho' Mum was herself a grad in ChemPhys, she was very much a renaissance woman in the scope of her heartfelt interests -- 'twas she who also introduced me to JRR Tolkien's works in both poetry and prose.
I'd been a very difficult teenager, and was relieved beyond words to have had time to grow fully appreciative of her and her many gifts. She was never a 'difficult mother', thank goodness, because, as the fourth and final kiddo, late in her thirties, I sure tested -- and benefited from -- her uncanny insight and unspoken yet enacted patience and support of this quiet yet turbulent 'hsp' here.
By sharing her own enthusiasms in literature and art, she opened my way to touch into the magic of the expressive arts. All it ever takes for me to thank her again is a glimpse of anything by Czeslaw Milosz!
To top all this off, it was my teen daughter who introduced me to the poetry of Wisława Szymborska around 1992! Kinda blessed thus, me ... !
https://www.themarginalian.org/2018/08/09/wislawa-symborska-great-love/?mc_cid=d9ba6d2489
your late Mum sounds like a true treasure.
Hi there, when I first read the poem, especially the beginning, I felt a whole lot of fear. I think I have tortured myself with reason... that it is that that has fuelled a lot of the shame and worry that have dominated my life. Reason itself has felt like a cage condemning me. As I read through the rest though, especially the mention of poetry as an ally, and learning about Philos-Sophia and Wolfgang Smith, it brought to me the thought that perhaps it isn't reason that has been the difficulty, but instead the doctrine mine has followed and the lack of art and heart. I do think reason without heart, curiosity and imagination often is a loveless, lifeless prison, that misses the beauty and wonder that is present in our world, each other, reality - especially the bittersweet kind... and that reason can be hijacked. But I now also see how as an ally with curiosity, heart and imagination, it has an important role to play, as we humans navigate the world. Especially its' ability to remain neutral... approach everything as new, rather than tainted by all the baggage which can obscure the present moment.
I'm so with you, Juliana, on the power of reason allied with heart, poetry, art.
When I read the last line, "Their enemies have delivered themselves to destruction.", I first thought 'Their' meant Sophia and poetry. But when I re-read and sat with the poem in totality, I sense 'Their' to mean reason and Sophia. I hear it as a prayer of gratitude! (My favorite line is, "It is an enemy of despair and a friend of hope."
Love this, Angela.
This reminds me of waking up choosing whether to save the world or savor the world. It can be a chronic tension and a choice to play with both.
what a great way of putting this tension!!
I never say no to more poetry, what a great read (both this poem and community comments from the previous one)! I too think it’s a bit of both — sometimes humans “reasonably” conclude terrible things, and poetry and literature can make Truth come alive without necessarily being true. Unicorns and dragons may (or may not) exist, but our stories about them have something essential to impart to ourselves and others. I especially liked the lines “giving us the estate of the earth to manage”; and the phrase turned on its head in: “[human reason] says that everything is new under the sun.” Thank you Susan for such good food for thought to jumpstart my weekend reading!
I think in these times humans seem to lack reason. Hopefully humans will once again come to their senses before it’s too late for our planet. “It is an enemy of despair and a friend of hope.
It does not know Jew from Greek or slave from master.” These words really resonate with me. My hope is humans will wake-up and human reason will lead the way to a positive outcome for us all.
I think that both are true. Human reason cannot be overcome by bars or barbed wire. And still, it is a statement of quiet despair. An easy solution to that conundrum would be the lack of human reason in the world, another the youth of poetry and philosophy.
I believe that the poem talks about possibilities, not manifestations.
Then, I am glad that he added poetry into the mix because reason alone will not do what he expects.
Thank you, Susan for the incantation! It is beautiful, I also like the artwork, especially the one by Ben More! Thank you for sharing!
The poem made me question, myself, my views of the world - I’ve always loved philosophy and poetry, but nowadays claim ‘no time’ - it’s true, to some extent, but it’s also a question of priority - so incantation is kind of a wake of call for me!
I’ve seen the film ‘old man and the sea’ when I was a teenager and didn’t like it - at all! don’t remember why I started reading the book and adored it! I’d also say that is one on top of my list!
Susan, there is just something about your writing that feels soulful and fills my spirit with hope. Thank you for sharing. I interpreted it to be a prayer. I also copied down the poem Margy Houtz shared by Wendell Berry, The Peace of Wild Things, has the most beautiful line "I rest in the grace of the world, and am free." Reminds me of the feeling of letting go and trusting life is working for you. <3
I'm so happy to know this, Elizabeth,
and that's one of my favorite poems, too!
A prayer for human reason to guides our hands....