"Winter" Poetry Response

Hayden Myrick

Jernigan

AP Literature

January 31, 2011

“Winter” by Czeslaw Milosz

            In this dramatic monologue, Czeslaw Milosz speaks about one of his newly deceased peers. While he addresses Aleksander, he jointly addresses the reader as a whole, calling out to “you” many times throughout. Milosz uses Aleksander’s death as a catalyst to jump-start his mind into pondering death in general, more specifically, his own death. He knows that he nears the end of his life. As he looks back on it, he recognizes his faults yet seems to find peace in the fact that life possesses no greater meaning than the search for meaning. Death exists as an extension of that adventure when life concludes. By contrasting the meaninglessness of life and the adventure found in death, Czeslaw Milosz toys with human emotion and tendencies, leaving the reader wrapped in a mind state of opposing thoughts and feelings.

            Milosz’s monologue’s primary theme of meaninglessness vs. adventure creates an intricately unique poem. He states “…a name lasts but an instant. Not important whether the generations hold us in memory. Great was the chase with the hounds for the unattainable meaning of the world.” It seems that life only exists so it’s meaning can bring adventure and a sense of value to humans. Milosz places death’s venture on the same level as life’s. This juxtaposition between life and death creates turmoil within the reader. Hopelessness develops initially. If death posses just as much meaning as life, why continue toiling through life? Why not end it all now? Upon further analyses, one realizes Milosz does not seem to sink into sorrow due to this interpretation of life and death. He looks to death with excitement. He sees it as a further vessel to continue the journey he started in life. Death should not be feared, but welcomed. It brings about a change and a journey that cannot develop in life.