In the poetry of Nicos Carousos wine and drunkenness are intimately linked with the notion of reality and its acceptance, or not, by the poet and the poetical subject. It is a well-known fact that Carousos was a 'drunken' poet and it is only fitting that we should study his works for mentions of drunkenness, more so than with any other poet from the so-called 'First Post war Generation'. For Carousos, the topic of wine, alcohol and drinking is the expression of an everyday, experiential, bodily relationship, rather than part of an organised system of symbols. The poetry of Carousos' maturity deals with the riddles of existence and of language and comes to terms with them first and foremost in a bodily, experiential way, while retaining a sense of transcending of time and a bent towards philosophical and poetical meditation.
In the poems between 1961-1978, which are included in the first volume of Carousos' collected works, the words κλήμα, αμπέλι, αμπελώνας, κρασί και πίνω appear quite often, much more so than in the works of other poets from the first post-war generation. During this period, the poet beholds with wonder the miracle of nature, observing in detailed fashion the changes of season, focusing his attention on the Attican landscape mainly. The figure of Christ is predominant, the poetic fantasy portraying the natural 'miracle' as proceeding from the religious one and vice versa. The poet succeeds in coming to the divine by means of his communion with nature. Very often the vine and the vineyard surround the presence of Christ and the attendant references to the divine tragedy, to the extent that God and Christ seem to 'spring out' of the vineyard:
… Ενδιάμεσε Κύριε μαύρο του ωκεανού / συ που ηλεκτρίζεις τους στίχους μου / κι ανεβαίνουν ωσάν θυμιάματα / στην κυανή όσφρηση του ύψους / εσύ που ανάβεις τους χυμούς στα κλήματα / κρατώντας τη μαβιά ρομφαία … (Η ΕΞΑΡΣΗ, τ. Α΄, σ. 81)
… και αμπελώνες είδα πορφυρούς όπου ο Δωδεκαετής έβγαινε / γελώντας από μυστική χιλιετηρίδα στο αγγιγμένο κληματόφυλλο … (ΣΤΗΝ ΑΣΙΝΗ ΟΙ ΠΟΡΤΟΚΑΛΙΕΣ, τ. Α΄, σ. 83)
… Κι όμως / ποτέ δε θ’ αντικρίσουμε τον Πατέρα. / Είν’ αυτός που βγήκε απ’ τα κλήματα / με τη συμφορά στο μέτωπο και σφαγμένη αγάπη … (ΚΑΤΕΒΗΚΕ ΤΗ ΦΥΣΗ ΚΙ ΑΝΕΒΗΚΕ ΤΗΝ ΠΡΑΞΗ, τ. Α΄, σ. 204)
The religious element is very much entrenched in Carousos' poetry, with paganism and Christianity being unified in the same view of the world. The birthplace and centre of this world is Greece, especially the soil and sky of Attica. Wine stands both for youth and the bliss that stems from this cosmic union and the continuum of time from the past to the present. It is a timeless, cross-cultural conception, which veers close to the worldview of the surrealist movement, but also insisting on the primacy of place and guiding role of Hellenism, from ancient times to the Greek Orthodox church:
Έρωτας η πηγή των ελλήνων / εορτάζει μ’ αετώματα με κίονες από φως / με καμπάνες φτάνει ως τα ύψη / γέρος που δείχνει το ευλογημένο λάδι / έφηβος υμνώντας το κρασί / εαρινός αμνός και θείος τράγος. (ΕΛΕΥΣΕΙΣ, τ. Α΄, σ. 118)
… Ένας χλωρός αέρας σπρώχνει το θάνατο στην ποντικότρυπα / ένας αέρας διώχνει με σφυριγμούς τη δυστυχία / στο μεγάλο τετράγωνο της πείνας / απ’ την Ευρώπη κι απ’ την Αφρική / κι απ’ την Ασία κι απ’ την Αμερική αέρας αέρας / είναι ο ανθοφόρος Βάκχος με το κοντάρι του Άι-Γιώργη … (ΚΑΤΕΒΗΚΕ ΤΗ ΦΥΣΗ ΚΙ ΑΝΕΒΗΚΕ ΤΗΝ ΠΡΑΞΗ, τ. Α΄, σ. 208)
From ΠΕΝΘΗΜΑΤΑ in 1969 and onwards, an underlying questioning of truth, until then identical to nature and the divine, and of poetry itself, as regards its ability to redeem one from inscrutable and dismal reality, is present. Phrases such as γλώσσα μέγαιρα or μέγαιρα πραγματικότητα set the tone in his later poetry, from 1979 to 1991, having made an early appearance in poems like those of his ΛΕΥΚΟΠΛΑΣΤΗΣ ΓΙΑ ΜΙΚΡΕΣ ΚΑΙ ΜΕΓΑΛΕΣ ΑΝΤΙΝΟΜΙΕΣ 1971 collection. The poet is already noticing:
Μου φαίνεται πως ένα καλό ξύσιμο διαρκείας / λυτρώνει περισσότερο απ’ την ποίηση and
Έγραψα ποίηση – μ’ άλλα λόγια συνεργάστηκα με το μηδέν.
Thus, the more the poetic subject comes into conflict with reality, the more its relationship with nature is eroded, the more too the feelings of bliss and superiority which stem from living as part of a harmonious whole are forced to retreat. What is absolute is gradually substituted by what is relative, and poetry itself, especially poetry itself, comes under scrutiny, sometimes reaching the point of self-retraction. By the time of ΠΕΝΘΗΜΑΤΑ Carousos is already writing lines such as:
…
Μακάριος ο Διονύσιος κόμης Σολωμός
άγων φάος αγνόν απ’ το αλωνάκι, μακάριος,
όταν έπαυε να γράφει
κ’ έγραφε μέσα-μέσα στην ψυχή του / πίνοντας. … (ΔΟΝΗΣΕΙΣ, τ. Α΄, σ. 217)
At the beginning of the second volume of his collected poems, entitled ΔΥΝΑΤΟΤΗΤΕΣ ΚΑΙ ΧΡΗΣΗ ΤΗΣ ΟΜΙΛΙΑΣ [1979], the poet expresses his bemusement about language, positing that language often has ulterior motives; for him, language is inherently inadequate to express truth, which it often obfuscates. Grapes, wine and the vine stand for truth and the essence of existence, in stark contrast to the deceitful nature of the surface of things. He combines their experiential origins with symbolic function. According to Carousos, it is the essence, not the form, which can bring out the true nature of reality. Reality, ultimately, is relative and insubstantial. As the poet and literary critic G. Dallas poignantly remarked, the impossibility of identifying being and poetry is condensed in the following lines, with the absence of αληθινού σταφυλιού and of the κρασιού που να σπιθίζει, with the words φαινόμενα κλήματα implying that language and, consequently, poetry too, is a mere mimicry of what is real:
Αισθάνομαι ωσάν τρελός / παραχαράκτης του Γίγνεσθαι / γράφοντας διψαλέα ποιήματα / (της κοιτίδας μου / κάλπικα χαρτονομίσματα) / Γιατί η γλώσσα είν’ η αχόρταγη / μοιχαλίδα του Πραγματικού / με αρίφνητα ψέματα προσπαθώντας / να σώσει το γάμο της /…/ κάθε μορφή ζαβλάκωμα / χωρίς αληθινά σταφύλια / δίχως κρασί που να σπιθίζει / απ’ τα φαινόμενα κλήματα.… (ΠΗΛΙΝΟ ΑΓΑΛΜΑΤΙΔΙΟ, τ. Β΄, σ. 27)
… Στην Ελευσίνα σήμερα οργιάζουν από λάμψεις / τα βιομηχανικά μυστήρια. / Βακχεύει η πολιτική και λάμπει η σελήνη. / Πεθαίνουμε γεννιόμαστε μπαινοβγαίνουμε στο Κοσμικό Κλάμα. / Γι’ αυτό κ’ εγώ μ’ ένα τσεκούρι τα ’χω ρημάξει τα νοήματα /…/ Σταφύλι λέω ναν την κάνω την πραγματικότητα /…/ Είν’ ώρα να διώξεις όληνε τη σκέψη απ’ το κορμί σου·/ είν’ ώρα τα κατάμαυρα κι ανύπαρχτα φτερά σου να βλαστήσεις. /…/ Στον κόσμο που βαθιά υπάρχουμε διάδημα η φρίκη. (ΤΥΜΒΟΣ, τ. Β΄, σ. 89)
The divergence between poetical subject and reality has settled in by now, the tendency to question the ability of language and poetry to convey the riddle and essence of existence becoming more and more intense. The poet often employs processes of simplification, both in his expressive means and in his philosophical meditations. The end result is the adoption of a way of writing which lies on the verge, his style becoming mercurial and sharp. This implies an attempt to adopt a metaphysics that also lies on the verge, a threadbare metaphysics that takes into account ‘only what is absolutely necessary’, as can be seen from the following lines:
«κρασάκι αμέριμνο» (ΜΟΝΟΛΕΚΤΙΣΜΟΙ ΚΑΙ ΟΛΙΓΟΛΕΚΤΑ, τ. Β΄, σ. 165),
«πίνοντας ως το φουκαριάρικο συκώτι μου» (ΜΟΝΟΛΕΚΤΙΣΜΟΙ ΚΑΙ ΟΛΙΓΟΛΕΚΤΑ, τ. Β΄, σ. 172)
His experiential and bodily way of looking at things, force Carousos to confront the metaphysical through the physical. The anguish of death, which from now on becomes the determinant of his poetry, impels him to consume ever-increasing quantities of substances such as alcohol and tobacco and to addiction, since these are his sole links with what is real; they are also the simplest way towards the tortuous passage through death. Yet, there is also a contradiction to be distinguished in the headlong march to self-destruction that is inherent in the conspicuous consumption of such substances, in conjunction with the incurable illness Carousos was suffering from. Drink and food assert our existence in this world, with the enjoyment of the object of consumption being a means in and of itself. But the reason for getting drunk is the transcendence or refutation of the everyday conditions of existence. In the three following passages the metaphysical quest tends, under the threat of death, to become attached either to the necessity for consumption of food and drink and to the attendant enjoyment of such an action, or to the transcendence of what is real through drunkenness. And yet, the writing resists and is led to an extreme form of refusal to acknowledge the rules of reality, taking the form of ‘rage’ and madness.
… ο θάνατος μας θέλει ανέπαφους / από έρωτες κι αηδίες / το ύψιστο: κρασάκι / με κάπνισμα στομώνοντας / τις κοσμοθεωρίες …» (ΜΟΝΟΛΕΚΤΙΣΜΟΙ ΚΑΙ ΟΛΙΓΟΛΕΚΤΑ, τ. Β΄, σ. 186)
Προσεύχομαι πίνοντας / ο ουρανίσκος μου ας μαρτυρήσει / τουλάχιστο να βαστήξω ως το τέλος … (Η ΔΕΥΤΕΡΗ ΣΥΝΑΙΣΘΗΣΗ, τ. Β΄, σ. 211)
…
D. Δυσπεψία· ο ουρανός μου δεν έχει γαλάζιο / είναι μονάχα εχθρότητα
E. πέρδικα δροσερή με κοκκινέλι
F. το γράφειν …/ πρέπει να φτάσει πια στην εξαγρίωση / οφείλουμε να τρελαθούμε …» (ΛΕΞΕΙΣ ΚΑΙ ΦΡΑΣΕΙΣ ΠΟΥ ΔΕΝ ΕΓΙΝΑΝ ΠΟΙΗΜΑ, τ. Β΄, σ. 219)
This process towards the ‘tremulous frenzy’ of the act of writing, or to ‘the drunkenness of naming things’, to use the poet’s own expressions, might in fact suggest the attempt to find a poetical identity beyond the acceptable one. The condition of drunkenness, including spiritual drunkenness, is an archetypal symbol for mystical initiation, for communion in spiritual secrets and for direct union with the divine, while also standing for total oblivion of worldly affairs. The poet is a special, solitary being, even at times a marginal being, tending to overcome the human condition, and can be seen as a mystic or prophet, on the borderline between sanity and madness, between being and non-being:
είμαι ο πιο έρημος Μοναχός τυλιγμένος μ’ αχτίδες· / είμαι στα φώτα των αισθήσεων· απ’ τη γεύση βρέθηκα / στο μη-αντικείμενο· απ’ τα μάτια βρέθηκα στο μη-υποκείμενο (ΕΤΣΙ ΕΙΝΑΙ, τ. Β΄, σ. 467).
One cannot fail to notice the coincidence between Carousos and Miltos Sachtouris, another post war poet. Sachtouris’ poetical compositions are also inextricably linked to the moment of inspiration, which is seen as a process of doing away with human limitations and as an escape from reality. In his poem ΤΟ ΑΝΕΒΑΣΜΑ, Sachtouris detaches himself from the human condition and the nightmare that is the misery of post war everyday life, and is pushed to a state of spiritual drunkenness, to a demonic, ‘frenzied’, delirious circular motion. Both martyr on the wheel of torture and an accursed figure, he enters into an upward motion that is inherently perilous but also liberating from earthly bondage and terrestrial convention.
Στριφογυρίζει ο ποιητής επάνω στον τροχό του
στριφογυρίζει ο ποιητής δαιμονισμένα
ένα κεφάλι αλόγου σπασμένο μέσ’ στα πόδια του
μια γυναίκα ανοίγει τ' άσπρο στόμα να δαγκάσει
φίδια φαρμακερά τον τριγυρίζουν
χάμω κυλάνε κέρματα
καύκαλα τσακισμένα ριγμένα μέσ’ στη λάσπη του
και στρογγυλά χαλύβδινα λουλούδια να σφυρίζουν
καθώς στριφογυρνάει ο ποιητής
αρχίζει ν' ανεβαίνει
όπως γυρίζει φρενιασμένα
κι όπως γυρίζει φρενικά
αρχίζει ν' ανεβαίνει
το ένα του χέρι είναι σβηστό
στο άλλο να κρατάει ένα αναμμένο κάρβουνο
The concluding two lines,
το ένα του χέρι είναι σβηστό / στο άλλο να κρατάει ένα αναμμένο κάρβουνο,
are almost identical to the final lines of Carousos’ poem ΕΓΚΑΡΣΙΟΙ ΣΤΙΧΟΙ (τ. Β΄, σ. 466):
είμαι μόνον αυτός που έχει την τρελάρα του· / τίποτα πιότερο· / αναβοσβήνει το χέρι μου όταν γράφω. (We should note that Sachtouris’ poem is an earlier one than that of Carousos, their collections dating from 1971 and 1988, respectively).
The notion of identity between inspiration and ecstasy, which imply departure from self and cutting oneself off from worldly matters, or, in other words, the notion of the poet-prophet who can see into the future, writing in a state of spiritual frenzy, ‘buzzing’, ‘with bound eyes’, like Pythia pronouncing the words of the Oracle, is the subject of Sachtouris’ poem ΠΟÝ ΟΔΗΓΩΝΤΑΣ.
Πού οδηγώντας τα λουλούδια
στη φθορά
ο άνθρωπος-πετεινός ανάβει μόνος του καίει
καθώς ορμάει απ’ το σκοτεινό του μέτωπο
η έκσταση
ουράνιο τόξο μέσ’ στα μάτια του
κρύβει το αυριανό φοβερό σκοτάδι
γυρίζει μόνος μέσ’ στον κήπο των αστερισμών
μια ματωμένη πέτρα στον εγκέφαλό του
κόκκινη αιχμή ρίχνει το ρίγος
στο χαρτί
βουίζοντας
με δεμένα μάτια
χρυσός
άρρωστος πετεινός
έρχεται το τραγούδι
In the two poems by Sachtouris, the relation between bodily pain and poetry offers a direct link between the notions of creativity and martyrdom. The trial of the ‘burning lump of coal’ in the poet’s hand is a metonym for the pencil, the instrument for writing, which is identified with the poet’s body (his other hand being unburnt), but also for the torture during the moment of poetic creation. The ‘fever of the sick cockerel’, who ‘lights himself, burning’, ends up as the point, which is also a medium for writing and transfers the fever to paper, resulting in the coming of the ‘song’. In both instances, the poet ‘lights up’ or is ‘burning’ at the moment of inspiration’, in other words he is in a copious state of bodily and spiritual drunkenness and ecstasy.
The two poems by Sachtouris quoted here, and the whole of Carousos’ poetry, imply that the topic of an experiential relation with writing is closely tied to the theme of drunkenness as transcendence of the human condition and of illusory reality, the aim being inspiration and a ‘meaningful’ poetical inspiration.