A poem for Alpha Romeo, by a Nobel prize awarded poet!
Greek poet, and Nobel laureate in Literature for 1979, Odysseas Elytis was an Alfisti!
In his poet collection, of 1973, "The Trills Of Love" there is
a poem titled "The Alpha Romeo"!
The whole collection, being so different from all his previous work,
stirred a lot of reactions to the philological circles. No deep hidden meanings, no ethereal images, no surrealistic forms, nothing to interpret or analyze!
The language is simple and the themes easy but also provoking!
Perhaps that was the actual purpose...to provoke!
And with "The Alpha Romeo" he did nail it!
He compares the Parthenon, the symbol of all of what was Ancient Greece,
and an eternal architectural masterpiece, with an Alpha Romeo!
I have searched and searched for an English translation but alas ... I found none!
So, despite the danger of committing sacrilege, I decided to translate the opening two verses. ( With my apologies to the poet, the poem, and the English language).
The Alpha Romeo.
"I have marveled at Athena's temple and did find
in its columns the divine Golden mean.
But today, in our time, I might as well come out clean,
I find elegance and beauty in a sleek Alpha Berline!"
And here's the original!
«H Alfa Romeo»
Θαύμασα τον Παρθενώνα
και στην κάθε του κολόνα
βρήκα τον χρυσό κανόνα
Όμως σήμερα το λέω
βρίσκω το καλό κι ωραίο
σε μια σπορ Alfa Romeo
Καλοκαίρια και χειμώνες
να 'ναι γύρω μου ελαιώνες
πίσω μου όλ' οι αιώνες
Κι όπου μπρος μου ο δρόμος βγάζει
και σε πειρασμό με βάζει
δώσ' του να πατάω το γκάζι
Με τη δύναμη του λιόντα
και με του πουλιού τα φόντα
πιάνω τα εκατόν ογδόντα
Γεια σας θάλασσες και όρη
γεια σας κι έχω βάλει πλώρη
για της Αστραπής την Κόρη.
Οδυσσέα Ελύτη, Από τη συλλογή Τα ρω του έρωτα (1972)
Please tell me what you mean by the Alpha Berline?? I think I have an idea, but I am not sure, so I better ask.
Merry, you caught me! :)
The poem does not specify any model...it just says, Alfa Romeo. I wanted the translation though to have some rhyme, so I used Alfa Berline, which is again not quite correct.
"Berlina" was the real official model name of some Alfa Romeo models, but in some European languages, Berlina becomes Berline.
You can see some "Berline" examples here http://www.oldtimer.400.pl/alfa.html
As for the poem, I did find a mention somewhere that Elytis was inspired to write it by an Alfa Romeo 1750 Berlina, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Romeo_1750_Berlina, but I think we cannot really know with certainty.
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