Cyprus

The title of this anthology of poetry by
the Cypriot poet Kyriakos Charalambides
is a reminder that one should never
underestimate the power of language, especially
a language of tried and proven plasticity,
as is the case of Greek, in the hands of a
master word craftsman and an able translator.
Author and translator appropriated and
adopted the Greek title of “Methistoria”
from one of Charalambides’ volumes of poetry
by the same title. One can imagine the
workings of the poet’s creative imagination
as it played with the endless
possibilities of imputed
meanings to this title by readers
and students. For in Greek,
the word “methistoria” could
easily be suggestive of metahistory,
integration with history,
or, more tantalizingly yet,
intoxication with history. David
Connolly, the translator, did well
choosing “Myths and History” as
the title of this anthology, because
he rightly sensed the author’s passionate
devotion to his muse, his
cultural heritage, and his cause. The translator
has also correctly sensed the author’s
amazing inclusiveness in the consideration
of personal and national problems, making
him thus the kind of poet of whom the
world has need, and whose voice deserves to
be heard as widely as possible. It is hoped
that “Myths and History: Selected Poems” is
a step in the right direction of making Charalambides’
poetry even more accessible to
English readers. It includes selections from
the poet’s last four collections: “Methistoria”
(1995); “Dokímin” (2000); “Aiyaloussa Visited”
(2003); and Quince Apple (2006).
32
Kyriakos Charalambides:
“Myths and History: Selected Poems”
An introduction by Theofanis G. Stavrou
In his celebrated autobiography,
“Speak Memory”, Vladimir Nabokov informs
the reader that “the act of vividly recalling
a patch of the past is something that I
seem to have been performing with the outmost
zest all my life.” Consequently, echoes
of the past are clearly discernible in all the
literary genres at which the prolific Nabokov
tried his hands: novels, short stories, memoirs,
translation, literary criticism, linguistic
vignettes, and preoccupation with Russian
texts of different types and of different historical
periods. In some respects, a patch is an
unfortunate metaphor, although its redeeming
attributes may be huge, depending on the
use one makes of it. According to Webster,