A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry (1996)

by Czesław Miłosz (Editor)

Other authors: Judah al-Harizi (Contributor), James Applewhite (Contributor), Aloysius Bertrand (Contributor), Miron Białoszewski (Contributor), Elizabeth Bishop (Contributor) — 102 more, William Blake (Contributor), Joseph Brodsky (Contributor), Raymond Carver (Contributor), Constantine Cavafy (Contributor), Blaise Cendrars (Contributor), Ch'ang Yu (Contributor), Ch'in Kuan (Contributor), Chang Chi (Contributor), Chang Yang-hao (Contributor), Chu Shu Chen (Contributor), Chuang Tzu (Contributor), Robert Creeley (Contributor), Carlos Drummond de Andrade (Contributor), Emily Dickinson (Contributor), Wayne Dodd (Contributor), Gunnar Ekelöf (Contributor), Emperor Chien-wen of Liang (Contributor), Edward Field (Contributor), Jean Follain (Contributor), Robert Francis (Contributor), Robert Frost (Contributor), Allen Ginsberg (Contributor), Linda Gregg (Contributor), Eamon Grennan (Contributor), Jorge Guillén (Contributor), John Haines (Contributor), Julia Hartwig (Contributor), Robert Hass (Contributor), Seamus Heaney (Contributor), Zbigniew Herbert (Contributor), Jane Hirshfield (Contributor), Moushegh Ishkhan (Contributor), Issa (Contributor), Rolf Jacobsen (Contributor), Robinson Jeffers (Contributor), Anna Kamieńska (Contributor), Jaan Kaplinski (Contributor), Kikaku (Contributor), Galway Kinnell (Contributor), David Kirby (Contributor), Ted Kooser (Contributor), Steve Kowit (Contributor), Ryszard Krynicki (Contributor), Joanne Kyger (Contributor), Valery Larbaud (Contributor), Philip Larkin (Contributor), DH Lawrence (Contributor), Naomi Lazard (Contributor), Li-Young Lee (Contributor), Denise Levertov (Contributor), Philip Levine (Contributor), Li Ching-chao (Contributor), Li Po (Contributor), Liu Tsung-Yuan (Contributor), Antonio Machado (Contributor), Zbigniew Machej (Contributor), Mai Yao Ch'en (Contributor), Bronislaw Maj (Contributor), Thomas Merton (Contributor), WS Merwin (Contributor), Oscar Milosz (Contributor), Robert Morgan (Contributor), Nachman of Breslov (Contributor), Leonard Nathan (Contributor), Sharon Olds (Contributor), Mary Oliver (Contributor), Ouyang Xiu (Contributor), Po Chu-I (Contributor), Francis Ponge (Contributor), Lawrence Raab (Contributor), Kenneth Rexroth (Contributor), Rainer Maria Rilke (Contributor), Theodore Roethke (Contributor), Tadeusz Rozewicz (Contributor), Rumi (Contributor), Shu Ting (Contributor), Charles Simic (Contributor), Louis Simpson (Contributor), Gary Snyder (Contributor), Muso Soseki (Contributor), Leopold Staff (Contributor), William Stafford (Contributor), Wallace Stevens (Contributor), Su Man Shu (Contributor), Su Tungpo (Contributor), May Swenson (Contributor), Anna Swir (Contributor), Wislawa Szymborska (Contributor), James Tate (Contributor), Tomas Tranströmer (Contributor), Tu Fu (Contributor), David Wagoner (Contributor), Wang Chien (Contributor), Wang Wei (Contributor), Aleksander Wat (Contributor), Sandor Weores (Contributor), Walt Whitman (Contributor), William Carlos Williams (Contributor), Keith Wilson (Contributor), Franz Wright (Contributor), Adam Zagajewski (Contributor), Al Zolynas (Contributor)

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
810	10	25,562	(4.11)	31
For A Book of Luminous Things Nobel laureate poet Czeslaw Milosz has selected 300 of the world's greatest poems written throughout the ages, poems memorable for how they render the realities of the world palpable and immediate. They are organized under eleven headings - including "Epiphany," "Nature," "The Secret of a Thing," "Travel," "Places," and "The Moment." In addition to his introduction, Milosz contributes brief, penetrating commentary on each poet. Among the.Poets included are Elizabeth Bishop, William Blake, Joseph Brodsky, Constantinos Cavafy, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Allen Ginsberg, Linda Gregg, Seamus Heaney, Zbigniew Herbert, Jane Hirshfield, Robinson Jeffers, D.H. Lawrence, Denise Levertov, Philip Levine, Li Po, Antonio Machado, Thomas Merton, W.S. Merwin, Sharon Olds, Mary Oliver, Po Chu-I, Rainer Maria Rilke, Theodore Roethke, Charles Simic, Gary Snyder, Wallace Stevens, May Swenson, Anna Swir, Wislawa.Szymborska, Tu Fu, Wang Wei, Walt Whitman, and William Carlos Williams.… (more)

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Showing 1-5 of 10 (next | show all)

A collection of "international" poetry, so much is in translation. Many fine classical Chinese poems. I don't know where the publisher got the paper that this is printed on, it reminds me of the old Ace science fiction paperbacks that I bought at the Ben Franklin in the 60s, with one novel going one way and another upside down going the other way. (

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markm2315 | Jul 1, 2023 |

I don't write many reviews, but this book needs one. It's odd to have an editor of an anthology put so much personal commentary into it, but I have no problem with that in and of itself. What I have a problem with is a white, male author/editor consistently denigrating female poets even as he includes them in his anthology. He qualifies every compliment with its opposite, such as when Milosz praises Linda Gregg as one of America's best poets but then follows it up with his being "biased" since she attended his classes, to which I'm assuming he's implying that she learned such greatness from him? Even if I'm reading too deeply into that, the way in which Milosz objectifies women in general by having a section entitled "Woman's Skin" alongside others such as "Nature," "Places," and "Travel" (tell me, which one doesn't belong?) is pretty infuriating even before one realizes that one of the first poems in said section is written by a man who is reflecting in the first-person on the difficulty of women aging or in another poem's commentary where he claims that women's bellies are "emotionally different" to men's. Moreover, Milosz claims that "in some epochs of history women took an active part in literary life..." as if we have not existed as artists and writers THROUGHOUT history. I would have given this book no stars, but many of the poems included are quality, despite their unfortunate election by an obvious misogynist. Mr. Milosz, I know you're dead, but go fuck yourself. (

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stixnstones004 | Jun 1, 2020 |

Very inspiring comments and introductions and interesting choice of topics, i.e. groupings. The selection isn't necessarily entirely my cup of tea that's why I gave four instead of five stars. (

)

Frances.Livings | Apr 30, 2020 |

Again and again. One of my favorite anthologies. (

)

laurenbufferd | Nov 14, 2016 |

A wonderful collection of poetry. Some of it shimmers... (

)

dbsovereign | Jan 26, 2016 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Miłosz, Czesław	Editor	primary author	all editions	confirmed
al-Harizi, Judah	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Applewhite, James	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Bertrand, Aloysius	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Białoszewski, Miron	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Bishop, Elizabeth	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Blake, William	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Brodsky, Joseph	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Carver, Raymond	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Cavafy, Constantine	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Cendrars, Blaise	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Ch'ang Yu	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Ch'in Kuan	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Chang Chi	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Chang Yang-hao	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Chu Shu Chen	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Chuang Tzu	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Creeley, Robert	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
de Andrade, Carlos Drummond	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Dickinson, Emily	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Dodd, Wayne	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Ekelöf, Gunnar	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Emperor Chien-wen of Liang	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Field, Edward	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Follain, Jean	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Francis, Robert	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Frost, Robert	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Ginsberg, Allen	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Gregg, Linda	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Grennan, Eamon	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Guillén, Jorge	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Haines, John	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Hartwig, Julia	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Hass, Robert	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Heaney, Seamus	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Herbert, Zbigniew	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Hirshfield, Jane	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Ishkhan, Moushegh	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Issa	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Jacobsen, Rolf	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Jeffers, Robinson	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Kamieńska, Anna	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Kaplinski, Jaan	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Kikaku	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Kinnell, Galway	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Kirby, David	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Kooser, Ted	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Kowit, Steve	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Krynicki, Ryszard	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Kyger, Joanne	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Larbaud, Valery	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Larkin, Philip	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Lawrence, DH	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Lazard, Naomi	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Lee, Li-Young	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Levertov, Denise	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Levine, Philip	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Li Ching-chao	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Li Po	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Liu Tsung-Yuan	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Machado, Antonio	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Machej, Zbigniew	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Mai Yao Ch'en	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Maj, Bronislaw	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Merton, Thomas	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Merwin, WS	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Milosz, Oscar	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Morgan, Robert	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Nachman of Breslov	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Nathan, Leonard	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Olds, Sharon	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Oliver, Mary	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Ouyang Xiu	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Po Chu-I	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Ponge, Francis	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Raab, Lawrence	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Rexroth, Kenneth	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Rilke, Rainer Maria	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Roethke, Theodore	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Rozewicz, Tadeusz	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Rumi	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Shu Ting	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Simic, Charles	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Simpson, Louis	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Snyder, Gary	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Soseki, Muso	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Staff, Leopold	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Stafford, William	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Stevens, Wallace	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Su Man Shu	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Su Tungpo	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Swenson, May	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Swir, Anna	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Szymborska, Wislawa	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Tate, James	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Tranströmer, Tomas	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Tu Fu	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Wagoner, David	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Wang Chien	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Wang Wei	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Wat, Aleksander	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Weores, Sandor	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Whitman, Walt	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Williams, William Carlos	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Wilson, Keith	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Wright, Franz	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Zagajewski, Adam	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Zolynas, Al	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed

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▾Book descriptions

For A Book of Luminous Things Nobel laureate poet Czeslaw Milosz has selected 300 of the world's greatest poems written throughout the ages, poems memorable for how they render the realities of the world palpable and immediate. They are organized under eleven headings - including "Epiphany," "Nature," "The Secret of a Thing," "Travel," "Places," and "The Moment." In addition to his introduction, Milosz contributes brief, penetrating commentary on each poet. Among the.Poets included are Elizabeth Bishop, William Blake, Joseph Brodsky, Constantinos Cavafy, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Allen Ginsberg, Linda Gregg, Seamus Heaney, Zbigniew Herbert, Jane Hirshfield, Robinson Jeffers, D.H. Lawrence, Denise Levertov, Philip Levine, Li Po, Antonio Machado, Thomas Merton, W.S. Merwin, Sharon Olds, Mary Oliver, Po Chu-I, Rainer Maria Rilke, Theodore Roethke, Charles Simic, Gary Snyder, Wallace Stevens, May Swenson, Anna Swir, Wislawa.Szymborska, Tu Fu, Wang Wei, Walt Whitman, and William Carlos Williams.

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