Begun in the winter of 1955 and completed in the spring of 1956, Treatise on Poetry is a brilliant meditative poem fully expressive of the powers that have made Milosz one of our greatest writers. Expertly translated, the poem is divided into four parts -- Europe at the turn of the century, the condition of Polish culture between the two world wars, the harsh reality of World War II, and the role of the poet in the postwar world. Here Milosz addresses...