Odysseus

I return! I return! I return!

My pores opened on my voyage through the sea

that came and took root in my heart.

And my heart passed through my body

and spread wide, sowing in the ocean’s heart

the sweet melody of return.

I return! I return! I return!

Behind every flower, every island

and every lovely thing

the divine vision extends towards me

the one, inimitable, unchanging Ithaca.

You could say that all nature was made only to hide

its beauty like the thin clouds

that cover the sun at sunset

making its beauty more intense.

Around me, in me, everywhere, the sea,

laughing and beloved,

mirrors the sun, the stars and the passing gulls.

Every wave that passes

brings me closer to you.

Every single thing is sweet, so sweet,

even the most unbearable pain

when it brings me closer to you, oh my country.

Athens, 1943.