A Greek who became a national poet in Japan

Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904), known also by the Japanese name Koizumi Yakumo, was an international writer, known best for his books about Japan. His novel, "The fountain of youth" will become a 3D animated film. His life could well become a Hollywood movie. When his father got transferred from the British army at the Ionian islands for the West Indies, Lafcadio (who was then six) and his mother moved to Dublin to live with his fathers family. His mother, however, did not like living there, thus she and her sons moved to one of her aunties. Lafcadio's father took advantage of a law of his country, under which marriages between British and non-British citizens were not recognised when done abroad, that is why he divorced her.  Rosa Kassimatis returned to Greece alone. She never saw her kids again. The father remarried and left for India, leaving the children back in England. 

Lafcadio discovered a book on ancient Greek culture whilst at school which interested him enormously. He continued his studies in France, Ivens College and the Catholic College of St. Cuthbert. There he even lost one of his eyes whilst playing. Since then he shut him self off. At age 19 he immigrated to the U.S. For a time he lived under conditions of extreme poverty. When he met publisher Henry Watkin he was in a very bad condition. He offered him a job at a newspaper and later he acquired a higher position in Cincinnati Daily Enquirer. In 1877 he moved to New Orleans for a series of articles and remained there for 10 years, translating foreign literature. 

Having enough of the Western way of life and traditions he moved to Yokohama, Japan in 1889.   There he was a correspondent of "Harper's Magazine". In Japan he spent the rest of his life (nearly 14 years). He embraced Buddhism, married, became a Japanese national and changed his name to Koizumi Yakumo. In December 1896 the Imperial University of Tokyo offered him the office of Professor of English Language and Literature. His articles and books described life in Japan in a unique way, which was regarded as the most interesting approach of Japanese society by a European author. In later years some critics accused Hearn for exoticizing Japan, but as the man who offered the West some of its first descriptions of pre-industrial and Meiji Era Japan, his work has historical value.   

The Greek National Anthem

The National Anthem of Greece is part of the poem "Hymn to Freedom", in specific the two first paragraphs. It was written in May 1823 in Zante by the famous Greek poet Dionysios Solomos. A year later it was published in Mesolongi and the same year Foriel included it in a collection of Greek folk songs. In 1828 Nikolaos Chalikiopoulos Mantzaros from Corfu, a musician and Solomo's friend, set the music to the poem based on folk motifs, for a four-voice male chorus. Since then the "Hymn to Freedom" was heard regularly on national holidays.

In 1844 different music was given to the poem by Mantzaro and was presented to King Otto, hoping to establish it as the national anthem. Despite Matzaros receiving an honorary award, the Silver Cross of the Order of Christ  and Solomos the Gold Cross of the same Order, the poem together with the melody given was not adopted as the national anthem, instead it was given the title "Thourios".

In 1861 the Minister of War requested from Mantzaro to compose a march melody on the "Hymn to Freedom". The musician altered the rhythm of Solomo's hymn and gave it a melody used for marching. After the union of the Ionian Islands with Greece (1864) it was established as the national anthem. 

The poem consists of 158 four-liner paragraphs, of these the first 24 were established as the National Anthem. Specifically the two first are those used when lowering and raising the flag and during official ceremonies. Within this poem it is evident that Solomos combines elements of romanticism and classicism. 

Dionysios Solomos, by writing the "Hymn of Freedom", contributed towards the national liberation struggle of 1821. 

Sean Connery recites Kavafi's poem 'Ithaca'

Poems are difficult to translate. Most of the meanings are lost in the process or need to be explained with numerous footnotes. A poem written in one language has to be understood in that language. But again we have had many examples of various poems which, when translated and recited in a specific way, will give the true meaning and pass on the fealings needed to move the reader. This video emphasises exactly this, the famous poem by Kavafis, "Ithaca", recited by Sean Connery.