"The Land of Ulro," first published in Polish in 1977, examines Milosz's state of mind and intellectual preoccupations in the last phase before he achieved international fame. Its preoccupation is the decline of European civilization since the 18th century, but it is an extremely personal book, written largely for the author's own purposes and possibly for a handful of fellow Polish literati. In the end, one has to accept that Milosz is engaged here in nothing more than "a personal adventure," recording his private impressions. The chosen means are consciously inadequate for the scope of the theme. One learns much about Milosz himself—his nostalgia, love of the esoteric, delight in ideas as wonderful playthings and self-indulgent distress as an "external alien" in a bad world growing worse. But one would look in vain—since Milosz had no such intention—for a comprehensive analysis of the alleged decline of...