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12 small, lustrous and moist faces,
just like raindrops. With the first drop of rain summer was killed The words that gave birth to starlight got drenched All the words whose unique destination was You! Whither shall we stretch out hands Whither shall we rest our eyes Now your eyelids have closed on our landscapes And we –as if the fog entered us- are Alone all alone surrounded by your dead images. Forehead to the windowpane we keep sleepless watch It is not death shall cast us down since You exist Since elsewhere a wind exists wholly to live you To dress you from close by as our hope dresses you from afar Since elsewhere greenest prairies exist Beyond your laughter as far as the sun Telling it in confidence that we shall meet again Not it is not death we shall confront But just a tiny drop of autumn rain A turbid emotion The smell of damp earth within our souls that continually grow Odysseas Elytis -
From the poem "Helen"
(trans. by Jeffrey Carson & Nikos Sarris) |
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