Seven More German Poets Write In Support of Greece

Less than a month ago, German poet Guenter Grass published an article supporting Greece entitled “Europe’s Shame.” Now, seven more German poets have added their names to the list, paying tribute to our country in the way they know best–through verse.

A one-page-long feature titled “Poetry for the Greeks” published on June 6th on the “Die Zeit” newspaper was a way of communicating between ancient and modern Greece.

Included among the seven poets, according to the Greek daily paper “Ta Nea”, is Martin Walser, who is a distinguished modern writer of Germany. Born in 1927, Walser addresses his poem to “people born in modern times” and explains that “we learned everything from the Greeks,even poetry for example.”

The article featured both ‘older’ and ‘younger’ poets who wrote for Greece and expressed their opinion about the country’s current situation. Each title is unique and refers to typical Greek places or characteristics.

According to the newspaper’s editor, these seven poems are not a kind of reply to their fellow countryman, Guenter Grass, but their own individual lyrical addition to the cause. He also comments that “whoever writes at the present time about Greece talks about a far away past or about a far away future. This lyrical composition refers to our present.”