The notion of time is of fundamental importance in the poetry of the so-called 'first post war generation'. The past, when intricately linked to the themes of lost youth, both in the biological and ideological sense, and of reality as identical to change, alienation and whatever is unfamiliar, can constitute a place which is 'somewhere else' for poetical consciousness, a locus of escape from a worrying present. The means for this escape from the running present is memory. In some instances it is not just the means but also the aim, and poets tend to examine its workings insistently, sometimes even as a fixation.

F. Alquié, in his study entitled Le désir d’éternité (the desire of eternity), holds that habit and remorse constitute, alongside memory-passion important parameters of emotional negation of time and of love for what is 'eternal'. More precisely:

a.) Memory-passion contrasts to memory-spiritual action. In the former, conscience cannot contain and define memory as a moment in the past. Such a memory is not seen as past, but is confused with the present, it is not perceived as a moment in time but as of eternal nature. That part of memory which locates and posits the matter of time (localising memory) reconstructs the succession of the moments of our lives and explains what is contemproary by means of history, distinguishes between present and future and frees the spirit from what is preordained, allowing active participation in future events to come about. Memory-passion imposes a passive stance as regards the now and the future, while memory-spiritual action is active.

b) Habit is akin to passive memory in that they both deny what is new, confronting new situations with an attitude that is repetitive and the same throughout, replacing what is new with what is already known. Habit, as a passive attitude, hinders us from accepting the moment and changing our own selves.

c) Finally, remorse nourishes the delusion that a mistake committed in the past is still dependent on ourselves. In its 'sterile' version, where it does not look to the future and to the resolve not to make the same mistake twice, it is the most futile of passions: it rejects time and the salvation that time brings, deterring the individual from new actions and future works. In this form, sterile remorse bears no relation to 'moral conscience', which demands that we turn to the future and action.

Alquié's theory about 'yearning for the past' sheds light on many points of Anagnostakis' critique on the subject of how we employ our time, while also helping us understand his own poetic scheme for the function of memory. Thus, employing this particular theoretical approach, we will examine the way in which the poet deals with the notion of memory and contrast it with his ideas about the present, the notion of action and poetry.

In the works of Anagnostakis, the relation between past and present is not just a dimension, but also a form of interdependence: On the one hand, there is the need to forget, get over the past, so the poetical subject can live in the present, without being burdened by guilt, remorse, pretenses or delusions. On the other, the need to preserve Memory, in order to repay the debt to both the individual and collective past, to the dead companions and comrades, is never far from the surface.

Poetical beliefs and poetical tropes are also shared between memory and oblivion, between mental flashback and ‘active’ action, between description of past experiences and images and contemporary, critical speech.

This attitude towards time is what determines Anagnostakis’ poetical understanding of the quality and usefulness of the function of memory and whether it functions or not. Thus, he distinguishes between memory that is passive and sterile and memory that is energetic and fertile.

In the former instance, that of sterile memory, recollection implies the repudiation of the past, the non acceptance of what is real, the pursuit of immobility and the lack of action in real time. Poetry which moves around the charting of a militant past which has, for better or for worse, been inexorably cancelled, is, for Anagnostakis, a sham for avoiding what is current; it is a niche in the wall for the self to hide itself in, a delusion:

… Μετρώντας ακόμη μια φορά ένα-ένα τα ναυαγισμένα μας όνειρα

Πώς ζήσαμε κι άλλο ένα βράδυ την ίδια πάντα αναμονή.

…

Όμως γιατί ξαναγυρίζουμε κάθε φορά χωρίς σκοπό στον ίδιο τόπο;

Λέγαμε πως λησμονιούμασταν μέρες, ύστερα χρόνια, μα πάντα γυρνούσαμε

Κοιτάζαμε το πρόσωπό μας στον καθρέφτη και μια άλλη συνηθίσαμε μορφή

…

(Είχαν τα πρόσωπά μας τόσο αλλόκοτα μπλεχτεί. Μη μας κατηγορήσετε

Χάσαμε πια οριστικά το δικό μας).

The individual, who, by yearning for the past, refuses to come to terms and live through everyday, humdrum life, becomes a target for Anagnostakis’ criticism. Sometimes even for self-criticism, since Anagnostakis himself cannot break free from the bounds of passive memory, especially in his earlier collections of poetry, his memories being still fresh. The limits between, on the one side, habit, remorse, fear of the past, and the decision to liberate thought from the past, on the other, are rather elusive, even for the author himself; while taking others to task, he does not pull his punches when addressing himself. In Anagnostakis’ poetry it is not all clear whether it is memory which hinders true life, by rendering the idol of the self in the mirror more opaque, or whether it is reality, deceptive and malleable, which compels us to look inside and backwards, thereby ruling out our having faith in the future and in the possibility of meaningful perspective.

Flashback often results in mimesis, a representation of life

… Σημαδεμένες χρονολογίες σα βιβλία βιβλιοθήκης πολυσύχναστης / Κι ήτανε πάντα πίσω από τη θύμηση οι γκρεμισμένες αψίδες του καλοκαιριού. / Κάποτε παίζουμε την αγάπη και τότε αλήθεια νιώθουμε ανυπέρβλητα αγνοί … Παίζουμε τη φυγή την ανεπίστρεπτη πίσω από χάρτινες κουρελιασμένες πανοπλίες / Παίζουμε την οδύνη μέσα σε δυο πακέτα τσιγάρα ολοκαίνουρια …,

but the new situation and conventions which confront the poetic subject are just as ‘worryingly unfamiliar’, probably even more so, since loss of identity and the symptom of the ‘alien self’ invalidate difference in individual memory; memory becomes a ritualistic, meaningless affair, which is stiflingly similar for all.

… Τώρα στο πόδι μας θα βρείτε πάντα κάποιον άλλον· … Πώς να φορμάρεις ένα τυχόν ξένο πρόσωπο σαν το δικό σου / Να πάρεις δασκάλους, να διδάξεις την κάθε σου κίνηση, κάθε λυγμό … Ορίσαμε μια – το πολύ – στα δέκα χρόνια να λέμε τα παλιά. / Οριστικά εμείς οι ίδιοι, πήραμε όρκο μη γίνει ζαβολιά. / Όρκο βαρύ. (Τι θες, τι τα ρωτάς. Υπάρχει πια εμπιστοσύνη;)

And yet, total lack of memory does more than just wipe out the past. It also results in the invalidation of the present, which by now has become absurd, alien, and whose features are that of complete otherness. The individual loses his or her ‘face’ and becomes other as to its own self, a doppelganger of itself, deceiving and being deceived («πήραμε όρκο μη γίνει ζαβολιά»). The absence of points of reference, the widespread attitude of loss of memory and indifference, oblivion as to the self, all lead to self-abrogation and adulterate relations with neighbours («υπάρχει πια εμπιστοσύνη;»). These relations are now punctuated by fear, while faces are reflected and recognised, or not, in the gaze of others:

Η αγάπη είναι ο φόβος που μας ενώνει με τους άλλους.

Όταν υπόταξαν τις μέρες μας και τις κρεμάσανε σα δάκρυα

Όταν μαζί τους πεθάνανε σε μιαν οικτρή παραμόρφωση

Τα τελευταία σχήματα των παιδικών αισθημάτων

Και τι κρατά τάχα το χέρι που οι άνθρωποι δίνουν;

Ξέρει να σφίγγει γερά εκεί που ο λογισμός μας ξεγελά

Την ώρα που ο χρόνος σταμάτησε και η μνήμη ξεριζώθηκε

Σα μιαν εκζήτηση παράλογη πέρα από κάθε νόημα;

…

Πεθαίνουμε τάχα για τους άλλους ή γιατί έτσι νικούμε τη ζωή

Ή γιατί έτσι φτύνουμε ένα-ένα τα τιποτένια ομοιώματα

Και μια στιγμή στο στεγνωμένο νου τους περνά μιαν ηλιαχτίδα

Κάτι σα μια θαμπή ανάμνηση μιας ζωικής προϊστορίας …

Απλές προθέσεις ζωής διασφαλίζουν μιαν επικαιρότητα

Ανία, πόθοι, όνειρα, συναλλαγές, εξαπατήσεις

Κι αν σκέφτομαι είναι γιατί η συνήθεια είναι πιο προσιτή από την τύψη. …

‘Uprooted memory’, which survives only as a ‘hazy remembrance of an animal prehistory’, implies alienation and loss of identity, as the diction of the quoted passage suggests: φόβος, τους άλλους, υπόταξαν, κρεμάσανε, παραμόρφωση, ξεγελά, τιποτένια ομοιώματα, δε βρίσκεις καθρέφτες να φωνάξεις τ’ όνομά σου, συναλλαγές, εξαπατήσεις, τύψη. The final section of the poem deals with the function of poetry as a means for conserving fertile memory and with the questioning of the tendency, prevalent among poets, to seek refuge from reality in order to attain a metaphysical ‘other’, transcending the present in favour of an indeterminate future:

Μα ποιος θά ’ρθει να κρατήσει την ορμή μιας μπόρας που πέφτει;

Ποιος θα μετρήσει μια-μια τις σταγόνες πριν σβήσουν στο χώμα

Πριν γίνουν ένα με τη λάσπη σαν τις φωνές των ποιητών;

Επαίτες μιας άλλης ζωής της Στιγμής λιποτάχτες

Ζητούνε μια νύχτα απρόσιτη τα σάπια τους όνειρα.

Γιατί η σιωπή μας είναι ο δισταγμός για τη ζωή και το θάνατο.

In these lines, as in the whole poem, Anagnostakis suggestively outlines what fertile memory consists of and, by implication, what poetic memory should consist of. The notion of Sacrifice, to die for an other, and the notion of Action are inextricably linked in the author’s conscience; they are the common denominator between past, present and future. By rights, poetry ought to take upon itself the responsibility of remembering and reminding others the act of sacrifice, the recipients of which were the ‘survivors’, the poet being among them. Sacrifice is an ultimate action, with its perpetuation and influence on the future depending solely on its recipients. If its ‘active’ remembrance should fail, this most defining of Actions is a mere event that is limited to the past.

Thus, on the one hand, it is necessary for the individual of the present to comprehend this action, and to carry on the struggle of the ‘martyrs’ and ‘heroes’ in his everyday life, but, on the other, sacrifice, in the same way as memory, should aim for the achievable, to the betterment of reality of our neighbour, and should not become a fearful flight from the present towards some other, metaphysical dimension. This, I think, is the meaning of the line «πεθαίνουμε τάχα για τους άλλους ή γιατί έτσι νικούμε τη ζωή», which puts forth the moral demand for sacrifice with perspective, shorn of the fear of life. That is the reason why the final lines pillory poetry which is content to reminisce, in ‘romantic’ fashion, and to pursue the quest of another, unreachable reality, whether in the past or in the future, pertaining to remembrance or dream, indifferent to the Moment, to now («Επαίτες μιας άλλης ζωής της Στιγμής λιποτάχτες / Ζητούνε μια νύχτα απρόσιτη τα σάπια τους όνειρα»). According to this approach, and bearing Alquié’s theory in mind, we realise that the poet opts for that memory which is transformed into spiritual action through poetic speech and which recalls the memory of the supreme, most complete action, that of doing away with the individual present in order to guarantee the collective future.

In the consciousness of the poet, retention of fertile memory is linked to the safeguarding of individual and poetic identity. While poetry which deludes itself and seeks to hide behind the cancelled past is pilloried, the need for a poetry which serves as a hideout, a safe haven that keeps the perils of reality at bay, the ‘ultimate guardhouse’ for the salvation of memory and identity, is insisted upon. The themes of the secluded hole in the ground and of waiting in silence suggest resistance to the tyranny of passive, defeatist memory and to the oblivion that comes about at break-neck speed amidst the ‘noise’ of poetical grandiloquence and verbosity.

… Έβλεπα τώρα

Πόσα κρυμμένα τιμαλφή έπρεπε να σώσω

Πόσες φωλιές νερού να συντηρήσω μέσα στις φλόγες.

Μιλάτε, δείχνετε πληγές αλλόφρονες στους δρόμους

Τον πανικό που στραγγαλίζει την καρδιά σας σα σημαία

…

Εκεί, προσεχτικά, σε μια γωνιά, μαζεύω με τάξη,

Φράζω με σύνεση το τελευταίο μου φυλάκιο

Κρεμώ κομμένα χέρια στους τοίχους,, στολίζω

Με τα κομμένα κρανία τα παράθυρα, πλέκω

Με κομμένα μαλλιά το δίχτυ μου και περιμένω.

Όρθιος, και μόνος σαν και πρώτα π ε ρ ι μ έ ν ω.

Although Anagnostakis opts for solitude, taking upon himself the responsibility to salvage the memory of the sacrifice, he is also confronted by his responsibility, as a poet, to come face to face with the here and now, having first to get rid of his baggage from the past: namely, passivity, the memory of death and cancellation, remorse. In the following poem, the poetic subject seems to soliloquize or to be giving directions, to a younger poet, perhaps, regarding a 'dark room' of memory:

Εκεί θα τα βρεις.

Κάποιο κλειδί

Που θα πάρεις

Μονάχα εσύ που θα πάρεις

…

Εκεί θα τα βρεις

Κάπου – απ’ τις βαλίτσες και τα παλιοσίδερα

Απ’ τα κομμένα καρφιά, δόντια σκισμένα,

Καρφίτσες στα μαξιλάρια, τρύπιες κορνίζες,,

Μισοκαμένα ξύλα, τιμόνια καραβιών.

…

Κι εσύ θα πάρεις το κλειδί

Και με κινήσεις βέβαιες χωρίς τύψεις

Θ’ αφήσεις να κυλήσει στον υπόνομο

Βαθιά-βαθιά μες στα πυκνά νερά.

Τότε θα ξέρεις.

(Γιατί η ποίηση δεν είναι ο τρόπος να μιλήσουμε,

Αλλά ο καλύτερος τοίχος να κρύψουμε το πρόσωπό μας).»

The memory of the past lies on the border between time and non-time; it is marked by inertia and the impossibility of action (βαλίτσες, παλιοσίδερα, κομμένα καρφιά, δόντια σκισμένα, τιμόνια καραβιών), by unfulfilled dreams and plans (μισοκαμένα ξύλα), by sleeplessness, which is most likely due to guilt (καρφίτσες στα μαξιλάρια), by the disappearance of the face and of identity (τρύπιες κορνίζες). The memory of the past constitutes a 'there', compared to the 'here' of the present; it guarantees the poet the security of what has already taken place and demands no action of him. The final lines contrast this kind of 'there' to the 'there' of a poetry that is scared of the present. Both forms of 'there' are ultimately dismissed as inappropriate shelters. It is precisely the kind of memory that takes away form the individual freedom of action and the priviledge of free choice. It, alongside poetry which stems from barren memory are condemned by Anagnostakis, and therein lays the meaning of the line «και με κινήσεις βέβαιες χωρίς τύψεις». The poet expresses here his definite decision not to go back to poetry that becomes the subterfuge for absence from action and Deed, or, in other words, «ο καλύτερος τοίχος να κρύψουμε το πρόσωπό μας».

In the final collection in the volume Ποιήματα 1941-1971, entitled Ο Στόχος, Anagnostakis handles the topic of memory in conjunction with the present. The poet is unable to intervene in current social matters, and for this reason too; he opts for literalness, his expressions becoming almost tautological, with very little poetry in them. This can be seen with lines such as «Το θέμα είναι τ ώ ρ α τι λες», «του μαθαίνω ονόματα σαν προσευχές, του τραγουδώ τους νεκρούς μας», «Σαν τους γύφτους σφυροκοπάμε αδιάκοπα στο ίδιο αμόνι», «Σαν ένα δελτάριο σε φίλους με τη μοναδική λέξη: ζω», «Έστω. Ανάπηρος, δείξε τα χέρια σου. Κρίνε για να κριθείς.». Memory is also restricted to its barest form, an exhortation to objective listing of names, for the purpose of being transmitted to the next generation. Nevertheless, memory has not shed the gravitas of a personal, emotional account, which is finally rid of remorse and guilt («ονόματα σαν προσευχές», «τα ιερά ονόματα»).

Poetry will be transformed into silence; the ultimate, transitional stage in this process is a postscript (Υ.Γ.), the last line of which (Πόσα άλλα κρυμμένα βαθιά…) confirms the poet's decision, already formulated in «Εκεί…», to disencumber himself from the attempt and responsibility of salvaging memory by means of poetic speech.