A Levant Journal

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Ibis Editions, 2007 - Biography & Autobiography - 173 pages
Cultural writing. Biography and Memoir. Edited and translated from the Greek by Roderick Beaton. Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Greek poet and diplomat George Seferis stands as one of the giants of twentieth-century literature. This book presents for the first time in English selections from the journals he kept while traveling in the Middle East. With characteristic vividness and concision, Seferis reflects both on what he sees and what lies behind (and ahead of) the visible, as the journals include superb passages of travel writing and meditations on the Levant's Hellenistic legacy, the holy sites of the region, the history of prominent British women travelers to the area, and of course the turbulent politics of his day. As such, they move between private and public dimensions of the poet's life and provide an intimate look into his world.

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Contents

Wartime 19411944
3
The Passing of Empire 19531956
99
Notes
153
Copyright

1 other sections not shown

Common terms and phrases

afternoon airfield Alexandria Amman ancient April Arab asked Athens August Baghdad beginning Beirut beneath British Embassy Cairo Cavafy church civilization consul Crete Cypriot Cyprus dark Dead Sea Dennis Silk desert diary diplomatic Egypt English Engomi entry everything exile eyes feel French Friday friends George Seferis German Gertrude Gertrude Bell going Greece Greek government Greek government-in-exile GS's Harold Schimmel Holy Sepulchre human impression Iraq island Jerusalem Jordan July Kanellopoulos Karaghiozis Katsimbalis Lawrence Durrell leaving Levant Levant Journal Logbook look Malanos Maro Middle East Ministry monastery Monday monks morning Mountain Nanis night Nikos Nikolaidis Orthodox Palestine poem poet political published refugee Saturday Seferis's September ship Smyrna sometimes South Africa Stratis Thalassinos streets Sunday T.S. Eliot taxi there's things Thursday Timos told translated travels tree Tuesday Turkish turned village visits Wednesday writing yesterday

About the author (2007)

Seferis, who was Greece's ambassador to London in 1961, has done much to integrate the unique Greek heritage with avant-garde European poetry. He is regarded as one of the greatest poets of his time. Born in Smyrna, he moved to Athens at age 14. He studied in Paris at the end of World War I and afterward joined the Greek diplomatic service. "Eminent as he is as a European poet," wrote Rex Warner, "Seferis is preeminently a Greek poet, conscious of the Greek tradition which shaped, and indeed created the tradition of Europe. Throughout the poetry of Seferis one will notice his profound consciousness of the presence of the past and its weight." His themes show a constant awareness of both the dignity and the inevitable sorrow of humanity. His images---the voyage, the search, and the ruins that become alive and yet suggest death---are universal, his treatment of them contemporary. His language has a disciplined power and simplicity. In addition to the Poems, selections from his poetry appear in Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard's Six Poets of Modern Greece. The Royal Swedish Literary Academy awarded Seferis the Nobel Prize "for his eminent lyrical writing, inspired by a deep feeling for the Hellenic world of culture."

Bibliographic information

TitleA Levant Journal
AuthorGeorge Seferis
EditorRoderick Beaton
Translated byRoderick Beaton
Editionillustrated
PublisherIbis Editions, 2007
ISBN965901256X, 9789659012565
Length173 pages
Subjects › 

Biography & Autobiography / General
Travel / General
  
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