Yannis Ritsos
View: Ritsos Poems
Ritsos, Yannis, 1909–90, Greek poet. One of modern Greece's most widely translated poets, Ritsos moved from an early concern with classical themes and style to a more deeply personal lyricism. His writing reflects family tragedies, a stay in a tuberculosis ward, and his political engagement against dictatorship that earned him periods of deportation and house arrest.
He served time in prison camps during 1947-1952 and after the 1967 coup, thence living under house arrest or surveillance. He took moral power from his poems, and spoke of political enemies with compassion rather than bitterness.
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Some of his best known works include: Tractor (1934), and Pyramids (1935) These two works achieve a fragile balance between faith in the future, founded on the Communist ideal, and personal despair. Epitaph (1936). This was a lengthy poem which uses the mechanics of traditional poetry but expresses in a clear and simple language a message of fraternity and brotherhood |
Later works marked Ritsos' devlopment and maturity as a Poet:
The Moonlight-Sonata (1956) – When comes the Stranger (1958), The Old Women and the Sea (1958),
The dead House (1959-1962) This is a long monologue partly inspired by the ancient Greek mythology and the ancient tragedies:
A characteristic of his latest poems such as: Late in the night (1987-1989) is that they are filled with sadness and the awareness of suffering. But in a humbly poetic way Ritsos preserves a gleam of hope in an ultimate start of creativeness.
Sources: Yannis Ritsos biography
View: Ritsos Poems