Lamenting the Son who Died Abroad

Miroloi (Dirge)

Areti Angelidaki: vocals

"Recorded on 11 April 1954, this lament made up of rhymed distichs was composed by Areti Angelidaki, from the village of Yeryeri, for her son who died abroad":

Myron, how can I forget you, my son,

abroad where you remained, my off-

spring?

And you left me alone, my pride,

abandoned and in sorrow, my lion.

Myron, and I suffer, my garden,

because all around I keep looking for

you, my son.

Myron, where did you leave me, my

darling,

supine, a fortune, my lion?

Myron, where are we to look for you,

my son?

supine, my exile, my offspring.

Myron, rose in bloom, my beauty,

supine, love of my life, my hyacinth.

Flower of gold, my child,

my son whom I lost, my child.

– Lambros Liavas, pamphlet in the CD Grece: Chansons et dances populaires (1989)– collection Samuel Baud-Bovy (AIMP XII, Archives Internationales de Musique Populaire)

– Image: Book cover of Dangerous Voices: Women's Laments and Greek Literature by Gail Holst-Warhaft