He became a leading figure of the Zagary group, whose catastrophism, belief in an upcoming cosmic disaster, reflected Spenglerian ideas of cultural life-cycles. And the disaster came - first in 1939 when German invaded Poland and World War II broke out. What once was great, now appeared small. Kingdoms were fading like snow-covered bronze. What once could smite, now smites no more.
Celestial earths roll on and shine.
Streched on the grass by the bank of a rives, As long, long ago, I launch my boats of bark. The heated literary debates of the group were carried in Vilnius and Warsaw periodicals. In his articles Milosz condemned purely aesthetic trends in literature. He attacked on the formalism of the poetic avantgarde in the name of poetry that expresses the personality of the poet and his philosophy of the world. When Poland achieved independence in 1918 there were endless debates about a Polish Academy of Letters until finally it was called into existence, but not without some wild clashes.