‘Fall Song’ by Napoleon Lapathiotis

I first learned about the Greek poet Napoleon Lapathiotis (Ναπολέοντας Λαπαθιώτης) from the 1985 film “Meteor and Shadow” (Μετέωρο και Σκιά), starring the wonderful Greek actor Takis Moshos (Τάκης Μόσχος). The biopic, which was based on authentic documents and excerpts from Lapathiotis’ writings, made me want to find out more about this controversial poet.

Born in Athens in 1888, Lapathiotis started writing as a teenager. By his 20s he was a well established literary figure in Greece, although his social status and position remained precarious due to his open homosexuality and unapologetic communist activism. During the 1930s his life gradually turned into tragedy, as he suffered from severe depression and drug addiction. He committed suicide in 1944.

Sadly, not much is available on Lapathiotis in English, but in this post I’ll share with you one of his poems, translated by Alex Moskios, entitled ‘Fall Song’. I chose it for purely subjective reasons – I love autumn, and I can never resist a good fall-themed poem! But there’s more: I love it how Lapathiotis opens up about his lonely restlessness, and the search for a long-lost sense of peace. It’s very melancholy, but also oddly comforting.

If you’re an English language learner, don’t skip the short vocabulary exercise found below the poem. (Answer key available.)

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Autumn, I loved you when the leaves fall 
And leave the branches naked for winter's icy bites, 
When the evenings flee, the poms are apple red, 
And lonely are the nights... 

And stand I now and ask: what fate and what storm, 
While alone sailing the abysmal depths of mort, 
Strangely and hopelessly has brought me now forlorn 
A beggar in your court...

And when the dinner ends and night falls, 
And quietly, like books, the light dies in the sky 
I come back looking for my lost peace of old, 
Like a charity from up high...

I loved you fall, when the leaves fall and 
Leave the branches, and lonely is each night. 
But did I really love you - or is just the shiver 
Of the coming winter's icy bite...

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VOCABULARY EXERCISE

Match the words highlighted in the poem with the following definitions or synonyms.

• a poor person asking for money or food
• alone and unhappy, miserable, forsaken
• slight shaking, esp. due to being cold or frightened
• fathomless, extremely low or deep
• help given to people in need; mercy; kindness
• destiny
• death
• to escape, run away

To check your answers, please click here.

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COVER IMAGE CREDIT

Photo by Dulcey Lima on Unsplash.