Νικηφόρος Βρεττάκος - Ὁ Ἀγρὸς τῶν λέξεων / Nikiforos Vrettakos: Τhe field of words

Ὅπως ἡ μέλισσα γύρω ἀπὸ ἕνα ἄγριο
λουλούδι, ὅμοια κ' ἐγώ. Τριγυρίζω
διαρκῶς γύρω ἀπ' τὴ λέξη.

Εὐχαριστῶ τὶς μακριὲς σειρὲς
τῶν προγόνων, ποὺ δούλεψαν τὴ φωνή,
τὴν τεμαχίσαν σὲ κρίκους, τὴν κάμαν
νοήματα, τὴ σφυρηλάτησαν ὅπως
τὸ χρυσάφι οἱ μεταλλουργοὶ κ' ἔγινε
Ὅμηροι, Αἰσχύλοι, Εὐαγγέλια
κι ἄλλα κοσμήματα.

Μὲ τὸ νῆμα
τῶν λέξεων, αὐτὸν τὸ χρυσὸ
τοῦ χρυσοῦ, ποὺ βγαίνει ἀπ' τὰ βάθη
τῆς καρδιᾶς μου, συνδέομαι, συμμετέχω
στὸν κόσμο.
Σκεφτεῖτε:
Εἶπα καὶ ἔγραψα, «Ἀγαπῶ».

..................................

Τhe field of words
(translated by Marjorie Chambers)

Like the bee round a wild
flower, so am Ι. Ι prowl
continuously around the word.

Ι thank the long lines
of ancestors who moulded the voice.
Cutting it into links, they made
meanings. Like smelters they
forged it into gold and it became
Homer, Aeschylus, the Gospels
and other jewels.

With the thread
of words, this gold
from gold, which comes from the depths
of my heart, Ι am linked, Ι take part in
the world.
Consider:
Ι said and wrote, "Ι love."