We were permitted to shriek in the tongue of dwarfs and demons
But pure and generous words were forbidden
Under so stiff a penalty that whoever dared to pronounce one
Considered himself as a lost man." - Meaning and context.">
"A Task"
“

We were permitted to shriek in the tongue of dwarfs and demons
But pure and generous words were forbidden

Under so stiff a penalty that whoever dared to pronounce one
Considered himself as a lost man.

— Czesław Miłosz

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "We were permitted to shriek in the tongue of dwarfs and demons
But pure and generous words were forbidden

Under so stiff a penalty that whoever dared to pronounce one
Considered himself as a lost man." in the context of ""A Task"" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Czesław Miłosz" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Czesław Miłosz

About Czesław Miłosz

Czesław Miłosz (30 June 1911 – 14 August 2004) was a Polish poet and essayist, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1980.