The presence of Sikelianos in the poetry of George Seferis

Abstract

Echoes of Sike1ianos' poetry can be detected in many poets, but his presence in Seferis is particularly interesting in the light of the close personal relationship which developed between the two poets from the 1940s. The poetic dialogue starts with Seferis' Στρo?η (1931) and develops continuously until his last book of poems, Tρια Kρυ?? Φoιημα&tauα (1966). Seferis, attracted by Sikelianos' linguistic richness, recreates the older poet's words ingeniously in his search for a new poetics. I examine this dialogue chronologically to show that exploring the presence of Sikelianos in Seferis' poetry enhances the understanding of the younger poet and reveals that, however great the differences in matters of technique between the two poets, their attitudes to poetry and poetics are in the end closely related.