Look now oh just look,
at the amaranth, all look!
At that never fading flower,
how it roots up on the peaks!
Look just how it roots,
how it roots where none dare tread.
Takes root where none dare tread,
in among the stones and scree.
Never, oh no never…
No never is it watered!
Oh never is it watered
nor its tender tips clipped.
Eaten, oh ’tis eaten
by mild deer that drop down dead.
Deer eat it and drop dead,
wild beasts eat it and grow tame.
Lyrics taken from the traditional Soufli Greek folk song titled “Amaranth” (date unknown)
Αχ, για ιδέ καλέ για ιδέ
για ιδέστε τον αμάραντο!
Για ιδέστε τον αμάραντο
σε τι βουνό φυτρώνει καλέ!
Αχ φυτρώ καλέ φυτρώ
φυτρώνει μες στα δύσβατα.
Φυτρώνει μες στα δύσβατα,
στις πέτρες στα λιθάρια καλέ.
Αχ, ποτέ καλέ ποτέ.
Ποτέ του δε ποτίζεται!
Ποτέ του δε ποτίζεται
και δε κορφολογιέται καλέ.
Αχ, τον τρών’ καλέ τον τρών’,
τον τρών’ τα λάφια και ψοφούν.
Τον τρών’ τα λάφια και ψοφούν,
τ’ αγρίμια κι ημερεύουν καλέ.
A choral version of this song is heard in Takis Kanellopoulos’ feature film Glory Sky (1962), orchestrated by Kostas Vogiatzis. This same version also features in The Last Spring (1972) by the same director.
Taken from the essay titled “The Never-fading Cinema of Takis Kanellopoulos” written by Manolis Kranakis for the Thessaloniki International Film Festival publication Reflections.
see also
This place of ours is ⋮ sky.
arkhæio
REFLECTIONS
