George Seferis

George Seferis, Two Poems,  translated from modern Greek by Jennifer R. Kellogg

Holy Saturday

Tomorrow, the brilliant light of Easter. It will rain, but at least we won’t be in the office.
The lambs, in the oven, remind me of a huge nursery.

Korce, Albania 5.1.1937

Μεγάλο Σάββατο

Αύριο Λαμπρή. Βρέχει αλλά δε θα ‘χουμε γραφείο.
Τ’ αρνιά, στο φούρνο, μου θυμίζουν ένα απέραντο βρεφοκομείο.

Κορυτσά, 1. 5. 1937

The snow sang with a glassy radiance, in silence.
This music kills; the sparrows have been missing for days. They’ve gone to bury their dead.
And stalactites from trees strike the grumpy chords of the dying sun.
Leave me alone so I can listen to my brother—

3.27.49

Με λαμπυρίσματα γυαλιού, με τη σιγή τραγουδούσε το χιόνι.
Σκοτώνει τούτη η μουσική· μέρες χαθήκαν τα σπουργίτια· πάνε
να θάψουν τους νεκρούς των.
Κι οι σταλαχτίτες από τα δέντρα χτυπάνε τη γκρινιάρικη χορδή
του ξεθυμασμένου ήλιου.
Αφήστε με ν’ ακούσω τον αδερφό μου-

27. 3. 1949

Author: George Seferis

George Seferis was a Greek poet, diplomat, and literary critic who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1963. As a diplomat for Greece, Seferis served during the Metaxas dictatorship of the 1930s, in exile throughout World War II, and during the Greek Civil War and Cyprus crisis. He died in 1971 after publicly rebuking the junta dictatorship and his funeral became a moment of national mourning and resistance.

Translation: Jennifer R. Kellogg

Plume: Issue #145 September 2023