Odysseas Elytis, pen name of Odysseas Alepoudellis, (November 2, 1911 – March 18, 1996) was a Greek poet, man of letters, essayist and translator, regarded as the definitive exponent of romantic modernism in Greece and the world. In 1979, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
HERE THEN AM I
Odysseas Elytis
Here then am I
created for the young Korai and the Aegean islands,
lover of the deer’s leaping,
initiate in the Mystery of olive leaves,
sun-drinker and locust-killer.
Here am I, face to face
with the black shirts of the ruthless
and of the years’ empty belly that aborted
its own children, in heat!
Wind releases the elements and thunder assaults the mountains.
Fate of the innocent, alone again, here you are in the Straits!
In the Straits I opened my hands.
In the Straits I emptied my hands
and saw no other riches, heard no other riches
but cool fountains running.
Pomegranates or Zephyr or Kisses.
Each to his own weapons. I said:
In the Straits I’ll open my pomegranates.
In the Straits I’ll post Zephyrs as sentries.
I’ll unleash the old kisses canonized by my longing!
Wind releases the elements and thunder assaults the mountains.
Fate of the innocent, you are my own Fate!