My Sister's Song / Yannis Ritsos

My Sister's Song

I had believed once in heaven,
but you have shown me
the depths of the sea
with its dead towns
its forgotten forests
its drowned voices.
And now heaven has plunged
-a wounded seagullinto
the sea.
My hand that built for you
a bridge over the abyss
has faltered.
Look at me
how naked and innocent
I lie down before you.
I am cold, my sister.
Who will now bring us the sun
to warm our hands?
I listen, silent.
No-one is passing
on the night road.
The stars have foundered
in the corroded eyes
of the moulting eagle
that wavers on the edge
of dark battlements.
Your bound hands
block my way.
Only your voice wanders
the corridors of night
striking its long sword
on the tiles.
It is late.
Neither life nor death
receives me.
Where shall I go?

Yannis Ritsos

Translated, with an Introduction, by Marjorie Chambers

In My Sister's Song (1937), personal grief is fused with historical awareness. This poem is one of the trilogy including Spring Symphony (1938) and The March of the Ocean (1940) which indirectly expressed the spirit of resistance against the Metaxas dictatorship in Greece and the rise of fascism in Europe. From My Sister's Song the lines beginning: "Here is the trophy of life" and ending: "I open my arms and accept the irresistible" became well-known as a slogan of resistance. The sun, to which these lines refer, symbolizes the steadfast belief of Ritsos in the redemptive power of poetry and in man's ability, no matter what the circumstances, to respond to the irresistible call of life, to take the ascending path towards "a more substantial freedom." He has also said: "The way towards the sun has no return." In My Sister's Song his victory over despair is not easily won. This is a bitter journey towards the light in the midst of darkness and is therefore a deeply moving testimony to man's heroic spirit.





Kız Kardeşimin Türküsü

Göklere inanırdım eskiden,
ama sen, denizlerin
derinliğini gösterdin bana,
ölü kentleri,
unutulmuş ormanları,
boğulmuş gürültüleriyle.
Gök şimdi yaralı bir martı,
süzüldü denize.
Sana kargaşalığın üzerindeki
köprüyü kurmaya çalışan bu el
kırıldı.
Bak bana:
ne kadar çıplak ve suçsuz
duruyorum önünde.
Üşüyorum, bacım.
Kim getirecek bize
ellerimizi ısıtacak güneşi?
Susuyorum. Dinliyorum.
Kimseler geçmiyor
gecemizin karanlık sokağından.
Yıldızlar kazaya uğramış
karanlık surların
ucunda sendelerken
koparıp alınan bir kartalın
paslanmış gözlerinde.
Bağlı ellerin
kapıyor çıkış yolunu.
Yalnız senin sesin
adımlıyor gecenin dehlizini
çarparak taşlara
uzun kılıcını.
Vakit geç.
Ölüm geri çeviriyor beni.
Hayat istemiyor.
Ben şimdi nereye gidebilirim ki?

Yannis Ritsos

Çeviri: Cevat Çapan

Yannis Ritsos