The aticle deals with the peculiarity of the literary representation of multiculturalism and the borderland in creative work by Czesław Miłosz. The factors which influenced the development of Milosz’s poetry are revealed, the life of the author in Wilno in the inter-war period is considered, and the romantic tradition of Adam Mizkiewicz is outlined. The cultural and political events which were reflected in the legacy of Miłosz are examined; the period of emigration and the homecoming are studied. The cultural and national specificity of the borderland, which affected the creative writing of Miłosz, is depicted, and distinct ethnic and cultural models, images and symbols in the author’s ideological and artistic inquiries are analyzed.