Mantis 21 (Summer 2023)
Translations
George Sarantaris
translated from Greek by Pria Louka
Ἀγαπάω τὸν ὕπνο
γιατὶ κι αὐτὸς ἀγαπάει τὴν ψυχή μου,
καὶ μοῦ σκεπάζει τὰ μάτια
μὲ τὰ λουλούδια ποὺ θέλω.
Βαίνω πρὸς τὴ θάλασσα
Μὰ κυττάω τ’ ἀστέρια
Βάρος στὸν καθρέφτη
Ὅπου ὁ πόθος μου
Μαρμαρυγὴ ἀπὸ τὰ ρίγη τοῦ νεροῦ
Τούτη ἡ φωνὴ εἶναι βαθειὰ σὰ λουλούδι
Μὴν τὴν μολύνεις· θὰ σοῦ πεῖ τὸ πρόσωπό σου
Ὅταν ἀστράφτει πάνω ἀπ’ τοὺς γύρους τοῦ καιροῦ
···
Μὴν πετάξεις προτοῦ ἡ δίψα σου γράψει τὸ οὐράνιο τόξο
Καὶ οἱ πετεινοὶ ἐπαινέσουν τ’ ὄνομά σου
I love sleep
because it loves my soul in turn
and covers my eyes
with the flowers of my choice
I head for the sea
But I watch the stars
Burden on the mirror
Where my desire
Glimmers from the tremors of water
This voice is deep like a flower
Don’t taint it—it will reveal your face
When it shines above the circuit of time
···
Don’t fly off until your thirst scribes the rainbow
And the roosters laud your name
GEORGE SARANTARIS (1908-1941) was a Greek poet born in Constantinople and raised in Italy. Over his lifetime, he composed more than a thousand poems, developing a distinct poetic world that evokes the sparse, light-filled Greek landscape. Sarantaris died in the 1940 Greco-Italian War tragically fighting against the country of his upbringing, Italy.
PRIA LOUKA is a writer and translator of Greek poetry. A book of her translations of George Sarantaris’ poetry, Abyss and Song: Selected Poems, is forthcoming with World Poetry Books (2023). She is the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship that has allowed her to pursue her passion for modern Greek literature. She is the author of The Courage to Walk and Write (Alphabetics) and has published an extensive photographic essay on Greece. Louka, a graduate of Princeton University, currently lives in Thessaloniki, Greece.