Article from Kinmen Daily News:

“The Poetic Art of Vasiliki Dragouni”

◎Lin Mingli

 

Odysseus Elytis (Greek: Οδυσσέας Ελύτης, 1911-1996), a Greek poet who won the Nobel Prize in Literature, famously wrote in his quotation, "Art brings us closer to everything beyond ourselves, and this is the true meaning of poetry". Vasiliki Dragouni, who was born in Athens, is notable for her poetry and one of the reasons for this is her literary education and elegance. For example, in her poem (Ways of Love), she naturally says, "Love is created in many ways". In the reveries or memories of life, through the use of various artistic techniques, she can deeply understand this inner spiritual essence..

 

In the long history of Greek poetics, although there are many excellent poets, it was around the twentieth century that women poets were really brave enough to express their sincere emotions. Vasiliki Dragouni's poetic art is different from the way other poets use images to reflect life and express their feelings, it is different from the pictures of life that are almost lifelike and it is different from the overwhelming psychological material that characterizes the art of poetry. Obviously, the foundation of Vasiliki Dragouni's poetic art is based on emotion. She uses emotion as a driving force to blow the sails of her imagination. Poetry is an expression of her transcendent emotions and a catalytic effect of the mind through aesthetics, so as to achieve a perfect combination of emotion and image.

 

To quote one of the poems (Seascape):

The waves of the silent sea come ashore

Like a liquid layer of light

Breaking and frothing on the hard rock.

Fresh seaweed, pebbles and empty shells

washed eagerly onto the beach

Reminiscent of the smell of the sea breeze.

Seagulls accompany the eternal sky

and swirl with the inspiring flap of wings

In the wind of the passing years.

The last light of heaven

Slants and fades in the dizzying speculation

In the darkness of time.

And into the monotonous silence

The waves reach the frame of the picture

Reaching for the tips of my wet shoes.

 

The poet uses vision, sound and touch to describe the beautiful realm of the twilight seascape. She also integrates her nostalgia for the past into the image of the eternal horizon and the undulating waves of the sea, creating a moving and tranquil artistic scene. She also lyrically imagines the process of creating poetic art, such as in the poem (Utopian Eden):

 

It is a strange summer.

Let us face the other side of the sky

As long as the air is golden, as long as the days are long

Time flows effortlessly in transparency

Like an hourglass

Slithering like a snake on the fertile ground

As it slips through

Between the heartbeats of childhood.

Come, my shadow

Morning is a funny joke.

Let's follow the rusty sun until the day is over.

Let's find a wilderness

In some utopian Eden of excavation

Behind this blue back

Away from the stale surface of things.

 

The rhythmic structure of the poem is complete and it focuses on the relentless pursuit of the future and light. In addition to expressing a spacious state of mind when summer arrives, the poet also approaches the prelude to childhood with a blazing gaze, digging inward to ignite the light of her soul. Her songs contain the sadness and joy she knows alone and so the pain and joy in her poems are in harmony and often form a unique poetic beauty.

 

Because her poems are her life's inspiration and source, they are deeply moving to the reader's heart. Thus, she not only describes the seaside scenes, but also reinforces her loneliness through her memories. In short, Vasiliki Dragouni's poetry casts all the emotional awareness in the process of self-growth. She endows poetic language with greater intensity, as well as a righteous line between darkness and light, love and sadness. As a result, her poems are deeply imprinted in the hearts of readers.

 

-Written in Taiwan, 2023.01.27.

 

*****

 

  瓦西里基•德拉古尼的詩歌藝術 

◎林明理   

                                           

    奧德修斯·埃里蒂斯（希臘語：Οδυσσέας Ελύτης，1911年－1996年）是獲得諾貝爾文學獎的希臘詩人，曾在他的語錄中寫道：「藝術使我們接近超越自我的一切，這就是『詩』的真正涵義」的有名見解。而出生於雅典的瓦西里基•德拉古尼（Vasiliki Dragouni），在她的詩歌創作中，備受矚目的原因所自，很容易發現的一點，就是她有文學的學養與優雅的氣質。例如她在（愛的方式）一詩中自然流露說，「愛是通過多種方式創造的」，此一詩曾被我反覆吟詠，她對於詩歌的直覺，多屬於自己情緒上單純的直覺，從其生活的遐思或回憶中，透過多種藝術手法的運用，從而深契其內在的精神實質。

 

    在希臘漫長的詩學歷程中，儘管優秀的詩人不乏其人，但真正勇於表現自我真摯的情感，且高於自然的女詩人還是在二十世紀左右。就Vasiliki Dragouni的詩歌藝術而言，有別於其他詩人用形象反映生活，表達感情的方式，有別於感受的一幅幅幾近逼真的生活圖畫，有別於為詩歌藝術特有的感染力或心理的素材。顯然，Vasiliki Dragouni的詩歌藝術的根底，是立在感情上的。她以情為動力，去吹動自己腦海中想像力之帆。詩，是她自我超越的情感表現，也是一種經過美感的心靈催化作用，以使情感和形象獲得完美的結合。

 

    試引其中的一詩（海景）：

 

寂靜的海浪湧上岸

像液體光層

破碎，在堅硬的岩石上泛起泡沫。

新鮮海藻、鵝卵石和空殼

急切地被沖上沙灘

讓人想起海風的味道。

海鷗伴永恆天邊

並隨著令人鼓舞的翅膀拍打而旋轉

在逝去的歲月的風中。

那天堂最後的光

傾斜和消逝於令人眼花繚亂的猜想

在時間的黑暗中。

並進入單調的沉默

波浪抵達了畫面的框架

伸手去拿我的濕鞋尖。

 

    詩人利用視覺、聽覺和觸覺去描繪了暮色海景的優美境界。她也把自己對過往歲月的悵惘之情，融匯在永恆的天邊和海上波浪起伏的意象中，構成一幅動人又恬靜的藝術境界。再如她也對詩歌藝術創造過程進行了詩意化的想像，比如（烏托邦伊甸園，UTOPIAN EDEN）一詩：

 

這是一個奇怪的夏天。

讓我們面對天空的另一邊

只要空氣是金色的，只要日子長

時間在透明中毫不費力地流淌

像沙漏

像蛇一樣蜿蜒盤旋在肥沃的土地上

當它滑過

童年的心跳之間。

來吧，我的影子

早晨是個有趣的笑話。

讓我們跟隨鏽跡斑斑的太陽，直到一天結束。

讓我們尋找一片荒野

在一些烏托邦伊甸園的挖掘中

在這藍色的背後，

遠離事物的陳腐表面。

    全詩的音韻結構完整，更著力追求對未來與光明的不懈追求。此詩除了表達夏天到來時的一種舒展的心境，詩人用熾烈的目光，也接近了童年的序曲，向內心開掘，以點燃其心靈之光。它的歌裡有她獨自知道的悲傷與快樂，所以，她的詩歌裡的痛苦與歡樂是渾成一片的，也往往形成一種獨特的詩美。

    因為詩是她鼓舞自我生命的醍醐，也是她生命所在，所以令讀者的心靈深深為之震撼。因為，她不僅勾描出海邊的場景，更加倍地從回憶中加強了自己孤寂的情緒。總之，Vasiliki Dragouni的詩歌熔鑄了自我成長過程的所有情感意識與寫作境遇，她賦予詩歌語言以更大的強度，也以正義的界線去闡述黑暗與光明，愛與悲涼之感。因而，她的詩，已深深印在讀者的心田裡。

 

                          -寫於台灣，2023.01.27.