Ritsos in Parentheses (The Lockert Library of Poetry in Translation) - Hardcover

Ritsos, Yannis

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691063974 ISBN 13: 9780691063973

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 1979

Synopsis

Perhaps Greece's most important poet, Yannis Ritsos follows such eminent predecessors as Cavafy, Sikelianos, and Seferis in the dramatic and symbolic expression of a tragic sense of life. The three volumes of Ritsos's poetry translated here―Parentheses, 1946-47, Parentheses, 1950-61, and The Distant, 1975―represent a thirty year poetic journey and a developing sensibility that link the poet's subtler perceptions at different moments of his maturity.

In his introduction to the poems, and as an explanation of the book's title, Edmund Keeley writes: "The two signs of the parenthesis are like cupped hands facing each other across a distance, hands that are straining to come together, to achieve a meeting that would serve to reaffirm human contact between isolated presences; but though there are obvious gestures toward closing the gap between the hands, the gestures seem inevitably to fail, and the meeting never quite occurs."

In terms of the development of Ritsos's poetic vision, the distance within the parenthesis is shorter in each of the two earlier volumes than in the most recent volume. There the space has become almost infinite, yet Ritsos's powerfully evocative if stark landscape reveals a stylistic purity that is the latest mark of his greatness.

Originally published in 1979.

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About this title

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Ritsos in Parentheses

By Edmund Keeley

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS

Copyright © 1979 Edmund Keeley
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-691-06397-3

Contents

Acknowledgments, xi, 
Introduction, xiii, 
Parentheses, 1946-47, 
THE MEANING OF SIMPLICITY, 3, 
HUNGER, 5, 
A FACE, 7, 
SUMMER, 9, 
MAYBE, SOMEDAY, 11, 
SELF-SUFFICIENCY?, 13, 
FINAL AGREEMENT, 15, 
REMOLDING, 17, 
SUDDENLY, 19, 
CIRCUS, 21, 
AFTERNOON, 23, 
UNDERSTANDING, 25, 
MINIATURE, 27, 
WOMEN, 29, 
TRIPTYCH, 31, 
RAINY, 33, 
THE SAME STAR, 35, 
CONCLUSION, 37, 
WE WAIT, 39, 
CAN YOU?, 41, 
THE THANKS, 43, 
Parentheses, 1950-61, 
CHILDHOOD CONVALESCENCE, 47, 
DELAY, 49, 
SQUANDERING, 51, 
MODE OF ACQUISITION, 53, 
FORGOTTEN TENDERNESS, 55, 
INERTIA, 57, 
HANDS, 59, 
DESK CALENDAR, 6l, 
NOCTURNAL, 63, 
POINT, 65, 
FRUGALITY, 67, 
THE ONLY, 69, 
THE SAME THORN, 71, 
ACCENTED-UNACCENTED, 73, 
HE WHO DIDN'T DANCE, 75, 
SKETCH, 77, 
SOUND OF SILENCE, 79, 
MARKING, 81, 
IN THE RUINS OF AN ANCIENT TEMPLE, 83, 
FREEDOM, 85, 
INCENSE, 87, 
HEALING, 89, 
CURRENT EVENTS, 91, 
SPRING, 93, 
A WREATH, 95, 
EVENING PROFILE, 97, 
AUTUMN EXPRESSION, 99, 
MESSAGE, 101, 
TRIPLET, 103, 
THE NIGHTS AND THE STATUES, 105, 
The Distant, 
SLOWLY, 109, 
DESCENT, 111, 
BRIEF DIALOGUE, 113, 
BECAUSE, 115, 
COMPLETENESS ALMOST, 117, 
COURT EXHIBIT, 119, 
FEVER, 121, 
THE ONE-ARMED MAN, 123, 
THANKS, 125, 
STRIDING OVER, 127, 
SECRETLY, 129, 
DOUBTFUL STATURE, 131, 
RED-HANDED, 133, 
WITH THE UNAPPROACHABLE, 135, 
DAY BREAKS, 137, 
WITH MUSIC, 139, 
PREPARING THE CEREMONY, 141, 
INSOMNIA, 143, 
REDUCED SCALE, 145, 
TOWARD SATURDAY, 147, 
RECONSTRUCTION, 149, 
ATTACK, 151, 
FOR SOME REASON, 153, 
THE TWO SIDES, 155, 
THE NEXT DAY, 157, 
WINTER SUNSHINE, 159, 
EXPECTED AND UNEXPECTED, 161, 
THE MORE SUFFICIENT, 163, 
AFTER EACH DEATH, 165, 
SECURITY DEPOSITS, 167, 
THE STATUES IN THE CEMETERIES, 169, 
THE DISTANT, 171, 
Yannis Ritsos: Biographical Data, 173, 

CHAPTER 1

Parentheses, 1946-47

    THE MEANING OF SIMPLICITY

    I hide behind simple things so you'll find me;
    if you don't find me, you'll find the things,
    you'll touch what my hand has touched,
    our hand-prints will merge.

    The August moon glitters in the kitchen
    like a tin-plated pot (it gets that way because of what I'm saying to
      you),
    it lights up the empty house and the house's kneeling silence —
    always the silence remains kneeling.

    Every word is a doorway
    to a meeting, one often cancelled,
    and that's when a word is true: when it insists on the meeting.


    HUNGER

    The night went by with its mouth full of speechless water. At
      daybreak
    the sun shone drenched on the coiled lines.
    Face-shadows, mast-shadows, voyages —
    we barely saw the

Edition details

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 1979
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0691063974
• ISBN 13: 9780691063973
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208