The CHARIOTEER An Annual Review of Modern Greek Culture NUMBERS 33/34 1991-1992 SPECIAL DOUBLE ISSUE NIKIFOROS VRETT AKOS , C. Capri-Karka and R. M. Newton Y UNDER THE ACROPOLIS Tral'M:l~tterl by C. Capri-Karka and I. Karka CHORUS Translated by M. Chambers SELECTIONS FROM: COLLECTED POEMS VOL. 1 \ COLLECTED POEMS VOL. 2 PROTEST SUN LAMP GIFT IN ABEYANCE ENCOUNTER WITH THE SEA Tunslated by A. Michopoulos, G. Pilit9is, D. Connolly R. M. Newton, M. Chambers, I. Karka and M. Polis INTERVIEWS WITH NIKIFOROS VRETTAKOS Translated by A. Michopoulos and M. C. Pantelia A SELECTION OF CRITICAL ESSAYS by A. Argyriou, S. Geranis, K. Haralambides T. Patrikios and Vinzenzo Rotolo T<ranslated by M. C. Pantelia, R. M. Newton A. Michopoulos and C. Capri-Karka $15.00 THE CHARIOTEER AN ANNUAL REVIEW OF MODERN GREEK CULTURE Formerly published by P ARNASSOS Greek Cultural Society of New York NUMBERS 33/34 1991-1992 Publisher: LEANDROS PAPATHANASIOU Editor: c. CAPRI-KARKA Managing Editor: SOPHIA A. PAPPAS THE CHARIOTEER is published by PELLA PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. Editorial and subscription address: Pella Publishing Company, 337 West 36th Street, New York, NY 10018. One year subscription $15; Two-year subscription $28; Three-year subscription $40. Copyright 1992 by Pella Publishing Company, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A. by Athens Printing Co., 337 West 36th Street, New York, NY 10018-6401-The CHARIOTEER solicits essays on and English translations from works of modern Greek writers. Translations should be accompanied by a copy of the original Greek text. Manuscripts will not be returned unless accompanied by a stamped self-addressed envelope. No responsibility can be assumed for theft, loss or damage. ISBN 0-933824-20-3 ISSN 0577-5574 THE ANGELS 0 I AffE.I\0 I by REGINA PAGOULATOU Translated by APOSTOLOS ATHANASAKIS Collages by YANNI POSNAKOFF "The twenty-three poems in Regina Pagoulatou's latest collec­ tion entitled The Angels deal with cosmic themes: love, pain, poverty, earth, motherhood, good, evil, God, Satan, and peace. One has, in reading Pagoulatou's poetry, the impression that she has an uncanny sense of the agony in the world which we are constantly witnessing, and that this agony is caused by cosmic forces but that we human beings as free and responsible agents are accountable but we are certainly no angels." JOHN E. REXINE Modern Greek Studies Yearbook PELLA PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. 337West 36th Street • New York, NY 10018 ISBN 0-918618-33-9 77 pp. Paper $15.00 Bilingual Edition 23 full color illustrations TABLE OF CONTENTS EDITORIAL C. CAPRI-K.ARKA • . • . • . • . • • • • • • • • • . • • • • • • • 9 THE PHILOSOPHY OF FLOWERS . 21 translated by DAVID CONNOLLY, C. CAPRI-K.ARKA AND RICK M. NEWTON ."Love" . 23 Question and Answer . 25 Morning Helplessness . 27 The Word . 29 Reverence . 29 The Magnitude . 31 The Pulse . 31 Reflection . 3 3 Plateau With Flowers . 33 Rest . 35 Visible Evidence . 35 Welcoming . 3 7 I've Spoken . 37 Sermon on the Mount . 39 Seminar . 39 The Faces of the Flowers . 41 The Voices of the Flowers . 41 The Flowers Pray for the Children . 43 Creation . 43 Mosaic . 45 From COLLECTED POEMS, VOLUME I . 46 translated by DAVID CONNOLLY, ARISTOTLE M!CHOPOULOS, RICK M. NEWTON, GEORGE PILITSIS AND MARGARET POLIS The War ....................................... 46 9/1/1939 . 47 A Soldier Murmurs on the Albanian Front . 48 Athens 1944 . 50 Without You . 51 My Verses Look Like... 51 In the Transparency of the Morning . 52 This Is How Taigetos Treated Me . 53 Embittered Withdrawal . 54 An Eagle Overtaken by Night . 55 The Orange Trees of Sparta . 56 The Hawk . 56 All the Years I was Away . 57 3 Companions . 57 Man and Infinity . 58 Autobiography . 59 From COLLECTED POEMS, VOLUME II . 64 translated by DAVID CONNOLLY, ARISTOTLE MICHOPOULOS, RICK M. NEWTON AND GEORGE PILITSIS Poetry and Life . 64 Exit . 64 The Bitter Day . 65 There :is No Loneliness . 65 March 31, 1959 . 66 Duty ........................................... 66 Life . 67 A Smaller World . 69 Waiting . 69 I Saw . .. 70 Catharsis . 70 Face to Face . 71 The Succession of Hands . 71 Cocreation . 72 The Rifts in Solitude . 72 An Interpretation of Loneliness . 73 From PROTEST . 74 translated by ARISTOTLE MICHOPOULOS AND GEORGE PILITSIS A Citizen . 74 I . 74 Confession and Repentance . 76 Emergency Exit . 77 Epilogue . 77 Then . 78 From THE DISTINGUISHED PLANET (1983) . 79 Account To A Mountain . 79 LITURGY UNDER THE ACROPOLIS . 81 translated by C. CAPRI-KAR.KA AND ILONA KAR.KA Introduction . 81 From SUN LAMP . 148 translated by ARISTOTLE MICHOPOULOS AND MARGARET POLIS Little Praises for the Sun, 3 ......................... 148 Pan-Creation ..................................... 148 The Water . 149 The Small Galaxy ......................... , ...... 149 4 Holy Virgin Holding The Child .................... 150 Outside Their Bunkers ............................. 150 The Weapons .................................... 151 The Keys ....................................... 151 Nuclear Disaster .................................. 152 The Depth of Life . 152 Face To Face, 1 . 153 Monologue . 15 3 From GIFT IN ABEYANCE ............................... 154 translated by MARJORIE CHAMBERS, GEORGE PILITSIS AND MARGARET POLIS Euphoria ........................................ 154 Whatever Happens ............................... 154 Short Ode ....................................... 155 Tree Planting . 155 The Greek Language . 15 7 The Field of Words . 157 The Ten Commandments . 158 The Eyes of Insects .............................. 158 Choice .......................................... 159 The Cloud ...................................... 159 The Tulip ....................................... 160 The Decay of Hands .............................. 161 Memory of Lost Blood . 161 The Unknown ................................... 162 Out of Superfluity . 162 CHORUS ............................................... 163 translated by MARJORIE CHAMBERS The Cloud . 163 Poems for the Same Mountain (I-XIV) . 163 Creation . 168 The Workshop . 169 Poetry .......................................... 169 Epigram of Life . 170 Chorus ......................................... 170 Neither ......................................... 171 Pascal Exaltation . 171 From ENCOUNTER WITH THE SEA . 172 translated by DAVID CONNOLLY, ILONA KARKA AND MARGARET POLIS Prologue . ..