Guest guest Posted April 5, 2010 Report Share Posted April 5, 2010 Here's your Daily Poem from the Poetry Chaikhana -- On Angels By Czeslaw Milosz(1911 - 2004) All was taken away from you: white dresses,wings, even existence.Yet I believe in you,messengers.There, where the world is turned inside out,a heavy fabric embroidered with stars and beasts,you stroll, inspecting the trustworthy seems.Short is your stay here:now and then at a matinal hour, if the sky is clear,in a melody repeated by a bird,or in the smell of apples at close of daywhen the light makes the orchards magic.They say somebody has invented youbut to me this does not sound convincingfor the humans invented themselves as well.The voice -- no doubt it is a valid proof,as it can belong only to radiant creatures,weightless and winged (after all, why not?),girdled with the lightening.I have heard that voice many a time when asleepand, what is strange, I understood more or lessan order or an appeal in an unearthly tongue:day draw nearanother onedo what you can. -- from Against Forgetting: Twentieth-Century Poetry of Witness, Edited by Carolyn Forche Amazon.com / Photo by pareeerica / ============ Thought for the Day: The happiest moment is when you discoverthe world at restin your heart. ============ Here's your Daily Music selection -- Debu Mabuk Cinta (Drunk with Love) Listen - Purchase More Music Selections Hi Alan -This poem raises some interesting questions about the "modern" worldview as it wrestles with angels, and spiritual realities in general.In the opening verse, although Milosz asserts that he believes in the "messengers" or angels, it's also thoroughly modern. First, he points out the very modern process of demythologizing, the stripping away of tangibility from the notion of angels in modern consciousness: "All was taken away from you: white dresses, / wings, even existence."When Milosz proclaims "Yet I believe in you, messengers," he knows he is making a bold statement. Because of modern sensibilities, it is assumed that one does not believe in angels, at least not publicly among intellectuals. What would have been, in past centuries, a bland statement of belief, reads as startlingly sincere, maybe even intentionally naive in a modern poem.The following verse is clearly influenced by 20th century notions of psychology and contemporary self-awareness:They say somebody has invented youbut to me this does not sound convincingfor the humans invented themselves as well.In the modern worldview, angels have been relegated to neurotic Freudian projections. Or, more generously, they might be thought of as universal Jungian archetypes. But they are no longer allowed to live and breathe outside the human psyche.And the line--weightless and winged (after all, why not?)--that's modern too. Questioning the literalness of wings on angels, playfully accepting the notion with the obvious assumption that most modern people would not. Even the parenthetic construction, the way it causes us as readers to stumble for a moment and pick our way through the line more carefully, that also reflects modern sensibility.Yet, he offers us a subtler and, I think, more profound understanding of what angels are: not winged, robed titans of the sky and history that appear with trumpets blaring, but instead something ephemeral, delicate, all too easily missed, beings that ride in upon living moments and touch a hidden part of ourselves...Short is your stay here:now and then at a matinal hour, if the sky is clear,in a melody repeated by a bird...Although Czeslaw Milosz is a modern poet writing for a modern audience, what isn't modern is his internal quiet. The modern mind is too often caught in staccato details, yet gently filling this entire poem is a sense of rest, self-acceptance, wholeness, even timelessness. This poem quietly glows.When we adopt Milosz's stillness and learn to truly pay attention, we might just feel the brush of angel wings "in the smell of apples at close of day / when the light makes the orchards magic."==And I want say thank you so much to everyone who sent me good wishes for my birthday. I wasn't able to respond to all of the messages individually, but I read every one and was deeply touched. Thank you!Ivan Share Your Thoughts on today's poem or my commentary... Support the Poetry Chaikhana Donations to the Poetry Chaikhana in any amount are always welcome. Thank you! Click here You can also support the Poetry Chaikhana, as well as the authors and publishers of sacred poetry, by purchasing some of the recommended books through the links on this site. Thank you! Click here A small amount each month makes a big difference. Become a voluntary Subscriber for just $2/mo. Click here Help the Poetry Chaikhana reach more people. Become a Supporter for just $10/mo. Poetry Chaikhana HomeNew | Books | Music | Teahouse | About | ContactPoets by: Name| Tradition | Timeline Poetry by: Theme | CommentaryBlog | Forum | Facebook | Twitter www.Poetry-Chaikhana.com Poetry ChaikhanaP.O. Box 2320Boulder, CO 80306 Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are 2002 - 2010 by Ivan M. Granger.All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers. ============ Plain Text: If you have any difficulty reading this HTML formatted email, please let me know and I can send you plain text emails instead. Friday Only: If you want to receive only one poem email each week, reply to this email and change the Subject to "Friday Only". Canceling: If you wish to stop receiving this Daily Poem email from the Poetry Chaikhana, simply reply to this email and change the Subject to "Cancel". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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