Poetic-Verses from ATHANASE
Greek Refrain (English)
'A vast wave of cicadas
like a flame extinguished and suddenly gone.'
Nikos Karouzos
Where, my friend Akis, are the lithe young shepherd boys,
with their gentle snow-white smiles, their lips of blood and gold,
their bodies caressed, embraced and bitten by a Sun,
reeling, intoxicated with passion, at the sound of their Pan pipes?
translated from the French of Athanase Vantchev de Thracy by Norton Hodges
20.10.05.
Notes:
Nikos Karouzos (1926-1990): this great poet, inveterate drunkard and man excellently at a loose end, carried the Greek language in his highest point of beauty and incandescence. He published 17 collections of poetry.
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Greek Refrain (English)
Greek Refrain (English)