Reading on Sunday afternoons while listening to my favourite concert for piano number 2 by Rachmaninov has almost become a habit. Even when we are away for the weekend, I always carry a much-loved book with me - usually poetry. Costas Montis is regarded as one of the greatest Greek poets of the 20th century and he is also one of my most favourites. There's something magic in his poems most of which have been translated into English.
Costas Montis was born on February 18, 1914 in Famagusta, and died on March 1, 2004 in his house in Nicosia, surrounded by his family. He has received numerous honors and awards throughout his life, and his books have been translated into several languages. Costas Montis has received honorary doctorates from both the University of Cyprus and the University of Athens. He has been nominated for the Nobel Prize, and in 2000 he was declared Corresponding Member of the Academy of Athens, the highest honor conferred upon intellectual creators living outside Greece.
In support of his proposal to the Academy of Athens, Professor Nicholas Konomis included the following: "Costas Montis is one of the greatest living Greek poets, and certainly one who renewed in a unique way modernistic lyric poetry, and enriched modern Greek poetry from the point of view of Cyprus. With his uninterrupted literary creation of 70 years, he has been able to depict artistically the authentic rhythms, the temperature, and the action of the deepest historical and emotional fluctuations of the soul and breath of Cyprus and her people. In his extremely powerful work he has recorded every vibration of the island (erotic, social, political), and all the thoughts of the people of Cyprus have been set down..... He has made use of the whole wealth of the linguistic, historical, and cultural tradition of greater Hellenism, and entrenched in his work, with unprecedented poetic force, the indelible character of the deep-rooted values of the Greek nation."
His official website created by his daughter contains information about his life and work but also video clips of him reciting his poems
COSTAS MONTIS: Excerpts from MOMENTS
The first vowel of my heart was yours,
its last consonant will be yours.
I'm afraid that I see
how small I am mirrored in your eyes,
I'm afraid that I see
how distant I am mirrored in your eyes.
This Sunday which combed its hair
and sat unsuspecting by our side,
this Sunday which looks us in the eyes like this!
How far do you think death is distant from this power,
how far do you think death is distant from this beauty?
Always we think that we are utterly ready,
and always, when the curtain rises and it's too late by then,
we see that something was left behind.
One more step and the human being begins.
Have your cameras ready.
We have fixed the verbs to begin with the first person,
we have fixed the grammars to begin with the personal pronouns.
An inscribed polygon in a circle we are.
At our best moments
at the very most we touch the circle.
Curious thing the heart.
The more you squander it, the more you have.
How close we are
to what we thought was so far away!
Haven't heard of that poet before. I loved the excerpt
Posted by: Andy | November 22, 2009 at 11:26 PM
"The first vowel of my heart was yours,
its last consonant will be yours." Beautiful!
Posted by: Andy | November 22, 2009 at 11:31 PM
He was a great man and a great poet whom I had the pleasure to meet a few years before he died. I really think he deserved to get the Nobel Prize for literature.
Posted by: Stefania | November 23, 2009 at 03:40 PM
Thank you for the soothing quality music and the great poetry. I'm off to bed pondering on the last two lines:
How close we are
to what we thought was so far away!
Posted by: Laura | November 23, 2009 at 09:37 PM
Greece has given the world the greatest culture, the greatest art and the greatest literature - Thanks to you, Anastasia, I've just come to know yet another great Greek poet of modern Greece. His website is fabulous. His daughter has done a great job. I will look for the Greek original version of his poems.
Posted by: Christina | November 23, 2009 at 11:48 PM
I really felt I was spending a Sunday afternoon with you--listening to the warm, rousing piano music and reading this poem for the first time.
I like knowing that about you--that you carry a book of poetry with you. Not many people in this world still do something like that....
Posted by: Tina | November 24, 2009 at 05:06 PM
To me Costas Montis is one of the greatest poets Greece has ever known even though not many Greeks have heard of him. Great artists are usually modest!
Posted by: Anastasia | November 25, 2009 at 11:12 PM
I'm glad you like Montis, Christina. I think he carried Greece in his heart of hearts. I love the messages he conveys through his poetry - messages of love, happiness, hope or patriotism.
Posted by: Anastasia | November 25, 2009 at 11:35 PM
You are so lucky to have met him in person. I also think he should have received the Nobel Prize for literature.
Posted by: Anastasia | November 25, 2009 at 11:53 PM
Glad you loved this Andy
Posted by: Anastasia | November 25, 2009 at 11:56 PM
Right! That's the way Costas Montis expresses great feelings.
Posted by: Anastasia | November 25, 2009 at 11:58 PM
I always read some lines from his poems before I go to bed. Costas Montis is always by my bedside..never mind how much I read or re-read every night.
Posted by: Anastasia | November 25, 2009 at 11:59 PM