This representative selection from the work of one of modern Greece's
most fascinating poets was made shortly after his award of the Nobel
Prize for Literature in 1979. It is drawn from all periods of his
distinguished career and traces his development from early surrealism,
in which he transforms French influence into a distinct personal voice
and mythology, through the dramatic style of The Axion Esti with its
blend of spirituality and earthiness, up to the later work in which he
experiments with new modes for expressing his perennial themes. The
poems are chosen, introduced and mainly translated by the leading
translators of modern Greek poetry, Edmund Keeley and the late Philip
Sherrard, whose collaborations also included translations of Seferis,
Cavafy and Sikelianos. Other contributors to the book include George
Savidis, Nanos Valaoritis and John Stathatos. Born in Crete in 1911,
Odysseus Elytis began to publish his poetry in the 1930s. He took part
in the campaign against the Italian fascists in Albania in 1940-41. He
was one of the most prominent poets of the Greek resistance during the
Nazi occupation. The Nobel Prize was awarded to him for his poetry
which, against the background of Greek tradition, depicts with sensuous
strength and intellectual clear-sightedness modern man's struggle for
freedom and creativeness'. He died in Athens in 1996.
