Osip Mandelstam’s love for the earth, man, his civilization and culture informs all of his poetry. In this study the highly respected Polish critic and classicist Ryszard Przybylski offers new insight into Mandelstam’s poetry by approaching it in light of his humanism. The author examines the classical and Christian sources of Mandelstam’s poetry, the meanings he discovered in architecture and music, and his thoughts on art, time, and death. Przybylski views Mandelstam’s poetry not only in the context of his period, but as a continuation and development of traditional Western culture, and this perspective provides a greater understanding of many of the poems.