Odysseus Elytis (2nd November 1911 – 18st March 1996) [1] was maybe the greatest Greek poet. In 1979 he was awarded with the Nobel Prize in Literature [2]. Some of his poems were set to music by Mikis Theodorakis, another Greek great persona. As I said, in a previous post I am not the best in literature as I found sometimes the content of the poems a little bit “strange”. Nevertheless, there are artists who created real masterpieces, like Elytis did. For me, the best collection of poems ever written, is Elytis' “Axion Estin” (or translated in English as “It is truly meet”). One of the best poems included in this collection, and my favorite, is the one with the name “A solitary swallow”. For me this poem is a hymn to revolution. Take a look at the following lyrics [3]:
A solitary swallow
and Spring’s great worth is found.
It takes a lot of work
to make the sun turn round.
Their shoulder to the wheels
it takes a thousand dead.
It also takes the living
to offer up their blood.
Elytis declares in this poem that the arrival of a new era can become reality but the cooperation between people and unfortunately their blood is needed. It was written in 1959 but it is far from outdated. The video above is this poem with music (singer: G. Mpithikotsis, music by M. Theodorakis). I strongly advise you to read the whole poem or the whole “Axion Estin” collection (in English) here.
[1] http://portal.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_kathextra_6_17/10/2007_208375
[2] http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1979/elytis.html
[3] "The collected poems of Odysseus Elytis", Jeffrey Carson, John Hopkins University press, 1997, p. 148
[1] http://portal.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_kathextra_6_17/10/2007_208375
[2] http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1979/elytis.html
[3] "The collected poems of Odysseus Elytis", Jeffrey Carson, John Hopkins University press, 1997, p. 148
thank you for such a great post!
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