Grigoris Bithikotsis - Στο περιγιάλι το κρυφό (Άρνηση) (Sto periyiáli to krifó) Лирицс транслатион то енглисх

Denial

• 1. Greek Wikilexico says that κρυφό when used as a noun can mean 'secret police.' As an adjective, it can mean 'hidden.' Many have seen political meaning in this poem, but Giorgos Seferis does this subtly, so I could not justify translating το κρυφό as 'secret police,' although native Greek speakers are no doubt are aware of this other sense of the word. Although the poem was published in 1931 and set to music by Theodorakis many years later, it (and the rest of Seferis' work) felt like a threat to the Greek autocrats of the late 60's and early 70's. So they banned his work, in effect placing the label λάθος on the poet and his poems. According to Wikipedia, ''Denial' came to be the anthem of resistance to the regime and was sung by the enormous crowds lining the streets at Seferis' funeral.' For a poem that's short and seemingly clear in its imagery, there are meanings here, I think, to be found by those who spend time with it.
• 2. λάθος! This word means mistake. It is set off by a the Greek version of a colon and followed by a an exclamation point. As I read it, the exclamation Λάθος! should be understood to be spoken by an authority figure (a teacher, a dictator) who prefers strict discipline and dislikes the messy πόθους και πάθος mentioned in the previous line. Because of the way Seferis has handled everything up to this point, the reader tends to sympathize with the group of people being chastised, and not with the one yelling Λάθος!
• 3. This meek last line works well, I think, because it upsets the listener's expectation. Wouldn't it be natural for the πόθους και πάθος group to tell the strict disciplinarian chastising them to stuff it? Instead, it seems they change themselves to fit the expectations/demands of the chastiser. So the verse ends by implying the existence of some social tension.