Kostas Karyotakis is the poet most emblematic of the turbulent interwar period in Greece. Though traditional in form, usually with end-rhyme and regular metres, Karyotakis’ poetry is modern in content, often pessimistic and bitingly satirical. His writing combines reverie with sarcasm, a stifling sense of everyday reality with poignant irony. This is verse that is both piercing and resonant.
STANZA 3
You told me of your life,
of the loss of youth,
of our love which laments
its own death,
and, as a flashing tear
passed in your eyes,
a cheerful sun
broke through the window.
