Gu Long
03-15-2015, 07:29 AM
This is a translation of the poem "Verses" (1963) of the Greek Poet Titus Patricius. He was born in Athens, in 21 May 1928. During the German Occupation, he joined the Communist resistance (EAM - ELAS). Due to the climate caused by the civil war and the anti-Communism in Greece after the defeat of the Communists in the Greek Civil War (1946 - 1949), Titus Patricius was exiled to the islands of Makronisos (1951-1952) and Agios Efstratios (1952-1953).
Verses
Verses that cry,
verses that are supposed stand up like bayonets,
verses that threaten the status quo of our society,
and in their few words
they make or overthrow the revolution,
are useless, fake and boastful,
because no verse today can overthrow regimes,
no verse can move the masses....
(What masses?.... Let's be honest,
who thinks of the masses?.....
At most: a personal redemption; If not recognition!...)
For this reason I do not write any more
to offer rifles out of paper,
weapons from words wordy and hollow!
Only a little bit of truth I write
in order to shed a little light into our fake live,
as much as I can and as long as I last.
Verses
Verses that cry,
verses that are supposed stand up like bayonets,
verses that threaten the status quo of our society,
and in their few words
they make or overthrow the revolution,
are useless, fake and boastful,
because no verse today can overthrow regimes,
no verse can move the masses....
(What masses?.... Let's be honest,
who thinks of the masses?.....
At most: a personal redemption; If not recognition!...)
For this reason I do not write any more
to offer rifles out of paper,
weapons from words wordy and hollow!
Only a little bit of truth I write
in order to shed a little light into our fake live,
as much as I can and as long as I last.