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The celebrated modern Greek poet Yannis Ritsos follows such distinguished predecessors as C. P. Cavafy and George Seferis in a dramatic and symbolic expression of a tragic sense of life. The shorter poems gathered in this volume present what Ritsos calls "simple things" that turn out not to be simple at all. Here we find a world of subtle nuances, in which everyday events hide much that is threatening, oppressive, and spiritually vacuous--but the poems also provide lyrical and idyllic interludes, along with cunning re-creations of Greek mythology and history. This collection of Ritsos's work--perhaps most of all those poems written while he was in forced exile under the dictatorship of the Colonels--testifies to his just place among the major European poets of this century. The distinguished translator of modern Greek poetry Edmund Keeley has chosen for this anthology selections from seven of Ritsos's volumes of shorter poems written between 1946 and 1975. Two of these volumes are represented here in English versions for the first time, two others have been translated only sporadically, and the remaining three were first published in a bilingual edition now out of print (Ritsos in Parentheses). The collection thus covers thirty years of a poetic career that is the most prolific, and among the most honored, in Greece's modern history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The best poet modern Greece has to offer
Ritsos is the real thing, and this selection is the best English version available.Though not nearly as well known as Cavafy, Seferis [a Nobel laureate] and Elytis, Ritsos surpasses them all.Sometimes his poems comment directly on life in the present, sometimes on the mythic Greek past, sometimes on the way in which the mythic past reverberates into the present.Though he also wrote long, Browningesque dramatic monologues, the pure distillation of his lyrics truly shine, and many of his best lyrics are assembled in this volume.Surely there are many expendable poems here, but the best poems--of which there are a few dozen at least--are among the best poems written in the twentieth century: direct, lean, attuned to the way in which a collection of words on paper can bring a moment of human life, whether now or thousands of years ago, to immediacy right before our eyes ... Read more

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The late poems of this century's great Greek poet Yannis Ritsos, while deeply melancholic and hauntingly somber, are also charged with an oddly celebratory note. They document a world that, if it is diminished in meaning, nevertheless remains vital and, at times, unaccountably beautiful. At the end of his life Ritsos experienced a surge of creativity that is fascinating to follow in its chronology and exactitude. The balance of sadness and wisdom, reconciliation and regret, makes this collection unforgettable. ... Read more

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tr Kimon Friar & Kostas Myrsiades ... Read more

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Yiannis Ritsos has long been recognized as one of the most prolific writers of contemporary Greece and as one of Europe's most important poets of the 20th century. In his 70 years of active life as a poet, he produced works that continue to amaze his readers. This work provides an introduction to the life, thought, and poetry of this highly regarded poet. The book then provides in Greek and English, the texts of hundreds of his poems. Anyone interested in Modern Greek poetry or the work of Yiannis Ritsos will want to add this work to his library. ... Read more

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In the dramatic monologues that make up The Fourth Dimension--especially those based on the grim history of Mycenae and its royal protagonists--the celebrated modern Greek poet Yannis Ritsos presents a timeless poetic paradigm of the condition of Greece, past and present. The volume also contains a group of modern narratives, including the famous, and much-anthologized, "Moonlight Sonata." Ritsos, rightly, regarded the The Fourth Dimension as his finest achievement. It is now presented to English- speaking readers for the first time in its entirety.

From "Philoctetes"

All the speeches of great men, about the dead and about heroes. Astonishing, awesome words, pursued us even in our sleep, slipping beneath closed doors, from the banqueting hallwhere glasses and voices sparkled, and the veilof an unseen dancer rippled silentlylike a diaphanous, whirling wallbetween life and death. This throbbingour childhood nights, lightening the shadows of shieldsetched on white walls by slow moonlight. ... Read more

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Poetry. Translated from the Greek by Paul Merchant. Yannis Ritsos (1909-1990) is one Greece's most prolific, distinguished and celebrated poets. He is the author of some 50 volumes of poetry. His Selected Poems 1938-1988 (1989) reflect that abundance as it contains 440 poems gathered from some 43 volumes. His MONOCHORDS written at about ten during 1979, can be read as miniature encapsulations by a master of the art of brevity Or they can be read as keys to his whole work, his lexicon of images and ideas. Ritsos, though a world reknown poet, is, unfortunately hardly known in the United States. Hopefully this translation of MONOCHORDS by Paul Merchant will help in spreading Ritsos1 poetry by offering toAmerican readers a 3sampler of the Greek poet1s work. Paul Merchant's translations of Ritsos, in his Greek issue of Modern Poetry in Translation (1968) and read by Ted Hughes on BBC radio in 1970, were among the first published in England. Merchant recently collaborated with Doug Erickson and Jeremy Skinner on a bibliography of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and on a reprint of a rare Expedition text. Since 1996 he has been Director of the William Stafford Archives. ... Read more

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Collections of Poems by the Nobel winner, Yannis Ritsos ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

good essays, fine translations
Ritsos is an intriguing poet and this new volume helps to enter his world with images well rendered in the translations and in the essays that accompany it. Louis Aragon's admiration may stem from his left wing sentiments but still it is judicious and on the whole convincing. Ritsos is one of the world's great poets. ... Read more

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This digital document, covering the life and work of Yannis Ritsos, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The length of the entry is 2814 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author