CZESLAW MILOSZ
Aftn the real prese nce o f di vini ty ill o ur fl esh and bl ood w hi ch
are at th e sa me time bread and w in e,
H ea ring th e immense ca ll o f th e Particular, despi te th e earthly law
that sentences memo ry
to
ex tin ction .
151
In
thi s conferen ce, I heard many problems di scussed , but I suspec t that
one was no t di scussed enough : suffering. Thi s is also autobiographi cal,
about m y childhood and youth and so o n . [I"teads, among o thers, hi s poems
"The Thi stl e, th e N ettl e," " Rive rs," and " Pure Beau ty: A Benedi cti o n ."]
Th e fo ll owing is no t autobiographical ; it's an autobiography o f our
century. I wo uld like to read poems o nly in Engli sh, but I also want
to
read
a few sho rt poems whi ch have never bee n translated into En gli sh; that is
why I have
to
read th em in Po li sh. Thi s is a pas toral so ng, written a long
time ago under the C erman occupati o n and with th e same aim 1110 re o r
less as "Th e Wo rld." !Reads in Po li sh .! And here is a poem w ritten no t
long ago. Of course, abso lutel y untranslatabl e. !Reads in Po li sh .!
I am go ing to end now by reading " A Song On the End o f the
Wo rld"-it too was written during th e wa r, under the N az i occupati o n .
On th e day th e worl d end,
A bee circl es a clovn ,
A fi sherman mends a gliml1ll'l'ing ne t.
H appy po rpo ises j ump in the sea,
13y th e rainspo ut youn g spalTows are playin g
An d th e snake is go ld-skinned as it sho uld always be.
O n th e day th e worl d
en d~
Wo men wa lk thro ugh th e fi elds unde r th eir umbrell as,
A d run b rd grows sleepy at the edge of a law n ,
Vegetabl e peddl ers sho ut in the stree t
And a yell ow-sa il ed boat com es nearl'l' th e island,
Th e vo ice of a vio lin las ts in th e :lir
And leads illto a starry night.
And th ose who expec ted lightnin g and thunder
Arc di sa ppo inted.
And th ose w ho expected signs :l nd :l rchangcls' trumps
Do no t beli eve it is happening now.
A~
lo ng as th e sun and moon are :l bove,
As lo ng as th e bumbl ebee visits
J
rose,
