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JoannaKruczkowska
UniversityofŁódź,Poland
“ASketchforanCIdyll)”:
Eliot,AudenandSeferisinCyprus
GeorgeSeferis)srelationswithCyprus,combininghispersonal,
professionalandliterarybiographywithaturbulentmomentinthe
historyofhisnation,isaverycomplexphenomenon.Anativeof
SmyrnatraumatizedbytheAsiaMinorCatastrophe,hechannelled
asenseoflossandexile,togetherwithanunderlyingquestforalost
paradise,intohisprivateandliterarylife.Travellingtheworldinthe
Greekdiplomaticservice,hetriedtokeephisprofessionalandliter-
arylifeapart;oneofthemostevidentdemarcationlineswasthetwo
namesheusedforhistwopublicfunctions:theoriginalΣεφερLάδης
[Seferiadis]fortheworldofdiplomacy,anditsabbreviationΣεφέρης
[Seferis]fortheworldofletters.Agreatadmirerandtranslatorof
T.S.Eliot)swork,hewasacquaintedwithBritishliterarycirclesand
privatelycherishedafewcloseBritishfriendships.
InthecaseofCyprus,hefoundhimselfintheeyeofthestorm
withallthesefactorsatplay.Whenhetravelledthereforthefirst
timein1953,hediscoveredalandreminiscentofhislonglostpara-
dise;twoothertripsfollowedintwosubsequentyears.Tecrown-
ingofthatdiscoverywasthe1955volumeofpoemsdedicatedto
theisland.Hisprofessionalcareerpeakedrightaferwardswiththe
postoftheadvisorforCyprustotheGreekMinisterofForeignAf-
fairs,immediatelyfollowedbythepostoftheAmbassadorofthe
GreekRepublicinLondon.Tiswouldallseemahappycoincidence
ifitwerenotforthemilitaryconflictwhichGreatBritaininflict-
edonCyprusatexactlythesamemoment,theconflictknownin
Greeceasthe“CypriotStruggle”
,whileinBritaineuphemistically
