death and resurrection of constantine paleologos

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Death and Resurrection of Constantine PaleologosAuthor(s): Odysseus Elytis and Kimon FriarSource: boundary 2, Vol. 1, No. 2, A Special Issue on Contemporary Greek Writing (Winter,1973), pp. 414-417Published by: Duke University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/302516

Accessed: 16/08/2010 16:35

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DEATH

AND

RESURRECTION

OF CONSTANTINE

PALEOLOGOS

I

As he stood

there erect before

the Gate

and

impregnable

in

his sorrow

Far

from the

world

where

his

spirit sought

to

bring

Paradise

to his

measure And

harder

even than stone

for he

had

never

been looked on

tenderly-at

times

his crooked teeth whitened

strangely

And as he passed by with his gaze a little beyond mankind

and from

them

all extracted

One who smiled

on

him

the

Real One

whom

death could

never seize

He

took

care to

pronounce

the word

sea

so

clearly

that all

the

dolphins

within

it

might

shine

And

the

desolation

become

so

great

it

might

contain all

of

God and

every

waterdrop

ascending steadily toward the sun

As a

young

man

he

had seen

gold glittering

and

gleaming

on

the

shoulders

of

the

great

And

one

night

he

remembers

during

a

great

storm

the

neck of

the sea

roared

so

that it

turned

obscure

but

he would not

submit

to

it

The

world's

a

burdensome

place

to

live

through

but for

a

little

pride

it's

worth

it.

415



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II

Dear God what

now Who

had

to

fight

with thousands

and not only his loneliness Who? Hewho knew with a

single

word

of his

how to slake the thirst

of the entire

world

What?

From

whom

they

had taken

everything

his

And his sandals

with

their

criss-crossed

straps

and his

pointed

trident

and

the

wall

he

mounted

every

afternoon

like an

unruly

and

pitching

boat to hold the reins against the weather

And

a handful

of

vervain

which

he

had

rubbed

on

a

girl's

cheek

at

midnight

to kiss her

(how

the waters

of the

moon

gurgled

on

the

stone

steps

three

cliff-lengths

above

the

sea...

)

Noon out

of

night

And

not one

person

by

his

side

Only

his

faithful

words which

mingled

all their

colors to leave

in his

hand

a

lance

of

white

light

And

opposite

along

the whole

wall's

length

a

host

of

heads

poured

in

plaster

as

far as

his

eyes

could see

"Noon

out

of

night-all

life a

radiance "

he

shouted

and

rushed

into the

horde

dragging

behind

him an

endless

golden

line

And

at

once

he felt

the

final

pallor

overmastering

him

as

it hastened from afar

416



III

Now

as

the sun's wheel turned

more and

more

swiftly

the courtyards plunged into winter and once again emerged red

from the

geraniums

And

the

small

cool

domes like medusae reached

each time

higher

to the silverwork

which the wind

delicately

worked

as a

painting

for other

times more distant

Virgin

maidens

their breasts

glowing

a summer

dawn

brought

him

branches

of

fresh

palm

leaves and those

of

the

myrtle uprooted

from

the

depths

of the sea

Dripping

iodine

While under his feet

he

heard

sucked into

the

great whirlpool

the

prows

of

ships

the

ancient and

smoked seacraft from which still erect with rivetted gaze the

Mothers

of

God stood

rebuking

Horses

overturned on

dumpheaps

a rabble

of

buildings large

and small

debris

and dust

flaming

in

the air

Lyingprone alwayswith an unbroken word between his teeth

Himself

the

last

of

the Hellenes

417

death and resurrection of constantine paleologos

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