Greece: Understanding Greek Feelings; the Social Psychology of the Country's Uncompromising Stance; Vrettakos; Toteras

A few telling lines I once translated from a poem, One More Spring, by Nikiforos Vrettakos :


"Let's tell them, so they understand:
Olympus will not bend, will not be lowered!
The sun doesn't change,
The colours of the country never change,
The song is never interrupted in the middle!"



(A longer extract from my partial translation can be found in Corfu Blues, Ars Interpres, 2006).

More poems by Vrettakos

Selected Poems (book) - translated by David Connolly

At an Athenian literary event in honour of Vrettakos (far left).


I am also reminded of the words of an old Corfiot-American friend,
 the late Demetrius Toteras (also quoted in Corfu Blues):

"We don't discipline easily, 
we bow to no-one, 
we try our best to die without shame.
we try to live without the shackles of fear...
we never forget"

Take note!