Le Cheval de Moldovalachie de Georges Séféris

Abstract

The horse of Moldovlahia is the poem that Giorgos Seferis composed during his visit of the 14th to the 29th of May 1939, in Bucharest. The poet is inspired by the equestrian statue of King Charles Ithat had just been inaugurated―on May 10th 1939―in celebration of his rise to the throne as the first king of Romania, on May 10th 1866, and the centenary of his birth, in 1839. Seferis, influenced by the agonizing atmosphere of the early World War II, transposes his negative emotions to the decadent political situation. We are in the political center of the Romanian capital, the heart of the city where the current power symbolically confronts the country’s history.

Keywords

• Seferis Georges (1900-1971)
• Romania
• Bucharest
• Twentieth century
• Greek literature
• Poetry