"I was given the Hellenic tongue

my house a humble one on the sandy shores of Homer.

My only care my tongue on the sandy shores of Homer.

The sea-bream and perch

windbeaten verbs

green currents with the cerulean

all that I saw blazing in my entrails

sponges, medusae

with the first words of the Sirens

pink shells with their first dark tremors."

Odysseus Elitis (from Axion Esti, 1959)

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