Euripides the Athenian ... by Seferis



He grew old between the fires of Troy
and the quarries of Sicily.

He liked sea-shore caves and pictures of the sea.
He saw the veins of men
as a net the gods made to catch us in like wild beasts:
he tried to break through it.
He was a sour man, his friends were few;
when his time came he was torn to pieces by dogs.


- George Seferis (1900-1971)

Translated by Edmund Keely & Philip Sherrard