Customer Reviews

George Seferis: Collected Poems

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Seferis is great. These poems don't feel dated in the least, nor do they sound translated. They emerge from some deep root in the shared brain, and brim into life like grace. If you like Montale or Cavafy, you'll probably like Seferis as well. All three have a large vision that begins in the local and reaches the world.

The edition, by Princeton, is very fine, with clear print and a helpful introduction.

Although most US readers seem less attuned non-English poetry, George Seferis seems the exception. Modern, yet utilizing more antiquated techniques, George Seferis bridges the gap between what we learn in college, and what we love in the real world.

Popular pieces like "The Return of the Exile" are never overshadowed by modern gems like "Sixteen Haiku" (Book of Exercises).

All in all, this book is a well done modern translation of George Seferis's collected works.

Although it is difficult for me to select my favorite modern Greek poet since I hold several of them in high esteem, among his peers, Seferis crests the wave of poetic intensity. His poetry is always laden with images often as tragic as they are beautiful. Like Kimon Friar, Edmund Keeley has brought the powerful verse of modern Greeks to the English reader (see the Amazon excerpts of this work). In sum, Seferis' poetic world is enthralling.

...(like myself). Seferis is graceful, erudite, and profound without being pretentious or willfully obscure. His work is lovely and haunting. I first became aware of his poems when Stephen King excerpted bits of them in SALEM'S LOT, which I think says something about how broad an audience Seferis appeals to. His poems tell stories as well as create imagery and mood, which helps make their beauty all the more affecting.

Seferis is the ultimate point of poetry. The real king of poetry. His name will be around throughout ages and the words he wrote will be remembered. The nobel was the least that people could return to him.