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The CHARIOTEER An Annual Review of Modern Greek Culture NUMBER 27 1985 SPECIAL ISSUE GEORGE SEFERIS "ARGO" THE LAST CHORUS Translated by Edmund Keeley THINGS ARE FULL OF GODS" Translated by Peter Bien BEL ACCEPTANCE SPEECH ( Translated by John E. Rexine ~} NIGHTS ON THE ACROPOLIS AND from DAYS "B" Translated by .Athan .Anagnostopoulos GGESTIONS ABOUT "THE THRUSH" by .Alexandros .Argyriou NOTES ON THE "THREE SECRET POEMS" AND IN SEFERIS' POETIC WORKSHOP by Costas G. Papageorgiou WAR IN THE POETRY OF GEORGE SEFERIS by C. Capri-Karka TWO ANNIVERSARIES: A TV FILM DOCUMENTARY REPORT by John E. Rexine $15.00 New Books from PELLA PUBLISHING CoMPANY MOTHERHOOD by REGINA p AGOULATOU Poetry in Greek and English. Translated by Kali Loverdos-Streichler, with drawings by Yanni Posnakoff. A book length composition poem on the theme of mother­ hood, not as a feeling, but as a social phenomenon with the immigrant mother, metaphorically mother-earth, as the central axis. In reading the poems by Regina Pagoulatou in MoTHERHOOD one is reminded of Socrates' conviction ... that poets write their poems by divine inspiration. In an inspired fashion Regina Pagoulatou relives for us in memorable imagery the conflicting currents of her deep emotions as she awaited the birth of her child ... JOHN ANSBRO Weekly Review Proini ISBN 0-918618-25-8 87 pp. $8.00 01 IIPEl:BEYTEl: 9EOll.QPO~ KAI KA9Y XIOY, MIXAAH~ AEKAKH~. llE~n.Q MArK.QNH, OMHPO~. A~TEP I 0~ MAT AKO~. r!ANNH~ no~NAK.Q<I>, rE.QPriO~ KOPA~. ANTirONH BAAXOriANNH, 9EOllO~H~ K.QN~TANTINOV, PNINA BARZILAI, K.Q~TA~ nYAAPINO~. BEPA XAPTENIA, TZENH MAPKETOY. Tile; PErriNA~ nArOYAATOY nop-rpa[Ta 1-WX<; Ojl6:5ac; KaAALTEXVWV, TIOU jlEOa crno TO epyo TOU<; TipO~cXAAETaL, OXL !16VOV ~ KaAALTEX'O'LKTj-A.aoypmpLKTJ 'EA.A.6:5a, aA.f..a Kat~ 'lo-rop[a TWV 'Ano5fJ!1WV. ISBN 0-918618-31-2 126 pp. $8.00 PELLA PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. 337 West 36th Street • New York, NY 10018 (212) 279-9586 THE CHARIOTEER AN ANNUAL REVIEW OF MODERN GREEK CULTURE Formerly published by PARNASSOS Greek Cultural Society of New York NUMBER 27 1985 Publisher: LEANDROS PAPATHANASIOU Editor: C. CAPRI-KARKA Managing Editor: SUSAN ANASTASAKOS Copy Editor: PAUL KACHUR 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 1985 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.-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 Scattered excerpts from: Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard, trans., eds., George Seferis: Collected Poems, 1924-1955, Copyright © 1967 by Princeton University Press, reprinted by permission of Princeton University Press. TABLE OF CONTENTS EDITORIAL 5 GEORGE SEFERIS: "ARGO" 11 Translated by EDMUND KEELEY THE LAST CHORUS 13 Translated by EDMUND KEELEY "ALL THINGS ARE FULL OF GODS" 15 Translated by PETER BIEN NOBEL ACCEPTANCE SPEECH 25 Translated by JOHN E. REXINE from SIX NIGHTS ON THE ACROPOLIS 29 Translated by ATHAN ANAGNOSTOPOULOS from 11DAYS 11B" 41 Translated by ATHAN ANAGNOSTOPOULOS SUGGESTIONS ABOUT 11 THE THRUSH" 55 by ALEXANDROS ARGYRIOU NOTES ON THE 1THREE SECRET POEMS" 101 by COSTAS G. PAPAGEORGIOU IN SEFERIS' POETIC WORKSHOP 157 by COSTAS G. PAPAGEORGIOU WAR IN THE POETRY OF GEORGE SEFERIS 169 by c. CAPRI-KARKA TWO ANNIVERSARIES: A TV FILM DOCUMENTARY REPORT 233 by JOHN E. REXINE EDITORIAL This issue of THE CHARIOTEER is dedicated to George Seferis. His unique and most sensitive poetry needs no introduc­ tion here because he is well known to the English-speaking audi­ ence. The challenging quality of his poetry and its infinite depth has had and will always have a continuous appeal to Greek and non-Greek readers. Although Seferis is now well known to the English-speaking public, there are still untapped sources of his original work to which this audience has no access. Moreover, when it comes to a poet as difficult and complex as Seferis, there is always room for more discussion and interpretation. I think it would be a mistake to consider Seferis' poetry as permeated by a deep feeling for the tragic predicament of man while missing his message, his Aeschylean belief in balance and measure and the inevitable punishment of those who exceed this measure. For Seferis "the value of man has always been in his refusal to accept the law of destruction." In his Nobel acceptance speech he stressed the importance of the Greek tradi­ tion, which is characterized by humaneness and has justice as its rule, and he appealed to man to realize his potential for becoming better. There is not much of Seferis' poetic work that remains un­ translated, except for the posthumously published Book of Exercises II, from which only "The Cats of Saint Nicholas," "On Aspalathoi ..." and "Letter to Rex Warner" have been included in the recent expanded edition of the Collected Poems in Keeley and Sherrard's translation. Seferis had his reasons for not pub­ lishing them himself although, according to the editor of the volume, George Savidis, there is evidence that he was preparing a collection with this title as early as 1960. The award of the Nobel Prize, the dictatorship in Greece and the fact that he wanted to work more on some of them may be among these reasons. Yet, the poems of Book of Exercises II are quite important for anyone interested in Seferis' work, and several are also of high quality. Two examples are "Argo" and "The Last Chorus," 5 6 THE CHARIOTEER which Edmund Keeley has translated for this issue of THE CHARIOTEER. In addition to the poems, however, there exists a large body of prose work by Seferis which is not yet available in transla­ tion, with a few exceptions like a number of essays included in On the Greek Style and the last volume of his Journals, A Poet's Journal: Days of 1945-1951. His novel, Six Nights on the Acropolis, most of the essays in the two volumes of b.oKLlJ.E<;, four of the five volumes of the Journals ( M£pcc;), the Manuscript Sept. '41 and the Political Diary, A have not yet appeared in English. In this issue of THE CHARIOTEER we include a few characteristic examples of this work. The essay "All Things Are Full of Gods," translated by Peter Bien, emphasizes the con­ tinuity of the Greek tradition and provides a moving commentary on the integration of the ancient Greek temples with their sur­ rounding landscape. Seferis' poignant comment on the removal of the Elgin marbles as soulless shreds out of their environment seems to have been written today, when the issue of their return to the place of their creation has been raised. John E. Rexine has translated the poet's Nobel Prize acceptance speech, which is the shorter one of the two the poet delivered in Stockholm. Two more examples of Seferis' prose are included in this issue, both translated by Athan Anagnostopoulos. The first is an excerpt from the only novel Seferis wrote, Six Nights on the Acropolis. Some of the same personae as in his poetry are also encountered in the novel, such as Stratis, the central character, as well as certain similar situations, such as the psychological wandering, and the longing for love and fulfilment. In the medium of the novel they acquire, at times, a more immediate impact and a dramatic reality, as seen in the excerpt-from near the end of the novel-included in this issue. The other example is a collection of excerpts from the poet's Journal, Days B. The Journals contain candid revelations of the poet's inner thoughts and his gradual or sudden changes of moods that lead us to the roots of his complex poetry. Events described in there, along with passages dealing with the same themes, are very helpful in clarifying certain cryptic images in poems written at about the same time. Most of the excerpts from Days B presented in this issue deal Editorial 7 directly or indirectly with Seferis' ideas about the process of artistic creation. As far as critical commentary about Seferis is concerned, although several essays have appeared in English, the work of Greek critics is largely unknown to the English-speaking audi­ ence. Yet their contribution to a better understanding of Seferis is very valuable, since they live in the same environment and are exposed to the same events and similar experiences as the poet. Three of the critical essays translated by the staff of THE CHARIOTEER for this issue deal with two of the most important long poems of Seferis, "The Thrush" and the Three Secret Poems. Alexandros Argyriou is one of the most respected Greek critics; his essay "Suggestions About 'The Thrush'" first appeared in the commemorative volume For Seferis published on the thirtieth anniversary of the first appearance of the poet in Greek letters and still remains one of the most thorough analyses of this complex poem. Costas G. Papageorgiou, publisher and editor of the Athens journal A1'ts and Letters, examines in two essays Seferis' last collection, the Three Secret Poems, which, being one of the most cryptic of his works, has been discussed so far only parenthetically.

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