The Poetic Art of Vasiliki Dragouni

Link: https://www.kmdn.gov.tw/1117/1271/1274/552624

Article from The Kinmen Daily News (金門日報; Jīnmén Rìbào), a Chinese-language daily newspaper published in Kinmen County, Fujian Province, Republic of China (Taiwan). The newspaper was first launched on October 31, 1965.

Odysseus Elytis (1911-1996), the Nobel Prize-winning Greek poet, famously wrote, "Art brings us closer to everything beyond ourselves; this is the true meaning of poetry". Vasiliki Dragouni, born in Athens, is notable for her poetry, for her literary cultivation and elegant temperament. For example, in her poem "The Way of Love", she naturally expresses that "love is created in many ways". I have repeatedly recited this poem. Her intuition about poetry is largely based on her own simple emotional intuition, drawing from her reflections and memories of life, and through the use of various artistic techniques, she deeply understands the inner spiritual essence of her work.

In the long history of Greek poetics, although there have been many excellent poets, truly courageous female poets who expressed their sincere emotions and transcended nature emerged around the 20th century. In terms of Vasiliki Dragouni's poetic art, it differs from other poets who use imagery to reflect life; it expresses emotions, from creating almost realistic pictures of life and from using material unique to the emotional or psychological aspects of poetic art. Clearly, the foundation of Vasiliki Dragouni's poetic art is rooted in emotion. She uses emotion as her driving force to set the sails of her imagination. Poetry is her emotional expression of self-transcendence, a kind of aesthetic catalysis that allows emotion and imagery to achieve a perfect union.

Consider one of her poems (Seascape):
Silent waves surge ashore
like liquid light
breaking, foaming on hard rocks.
Fresh seaweed, pebbles, and empty shells
are eagerly washed onto the beach,
reminding one of the taste of the sea breeze.
Seagulls accompany the eternal horizon, swirling
in the winds of passing years with inspiring wingbeats.
The last light of paradise tilts and vanishes in the darkness of time,
leaving behind dazzling conjectures.

The poet uses sight, hearing, and touch to depict the beautiful realm of the twilight seascape, entering a monotonous silence as waves reach the frame of the picture. She also blends her melancholy for bygone years into the imagery of the eternal horizon and the undulating waves of the sea, creating a moving and tranquil artistic realm. Furthermore, she poetically imagines the creative process of poetry, 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 flow effortlessly in transparency like sand in an hourglass, like a snake winding and coiling over fertile land as it slips between the heartbeats of childhood. Come, my shadow, morning is a funny joke. Let us follow the rusty sun until the day ends. Let us seek a wilderness in some Utopian Eden excavation, behind this blue, far from the stale surface of things.  

The poem has a complete rhythmic structure and strives for an unyielding pursuit of the future and light. This poem, besides expressing a sense of exhilaration at the arrival of summer, also draws the poet's intense gaze towards the prelude to childhood, delving into her inner world to ignite the light within her soul. Its songs contain sorrow and joy she knows only herself; therefore, the pain and joy in her poetry are seamlessly integrated, often forming a unique poetic beauty. Because poetry is the elixir that inspires her life, and is the very essence of her being, it deeply resonates with the reader. Because she not only depicts the seaside scene, but also amplifies her feelings of loneliness through memories. In short, Vasiliki Dragouni's poetry fuses all the emotional consciousness and writing experiences of her personal growth process. She imbues poetic language with greater intensity and uses the boundaries of justice to articulate feelings of darkness and light, love and sorrow. Therefore, her poetry has been deeply imprinted in the hearts of readers.

Author: Lin Mingli