The call of the herald: Lohengrin and Kavafis

  • Ernest Marcos Hierro Universidad de Barcelona
Keywords: Konstandinos P. Kavafis, Richard Wagner, Lohengrin, literay reception

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyse two unedited poems of Konstandinos P. Kavafis («Lohengrin» and «The suspicion») which are dedicated to the opera Lohengrin by Richard Wagner and were written about 1898. Like other poems of his formative years such as «Second Odyssey» and «King Claudius», Kavafis offers in these two poems a transgressive version of the plot of the opera: in the first poem Lohengrin doesn't come to save Elsa and, in the second one, he is defeated by his enemy Telramund. Unlike Elsa, the protagonist of the poems is guilty of the crime of which he is accused and he doesn't deserve the salvation which his dreams promised him. These poems connect with other texts dated in the poet's maturity in which he claims his marginal status.

References

BAUDELAIRE, CH. (1885): Oeuvres complètes. L’Art romantiques, Calmann Lévy, París.

HAAS, D. (1996): Le problème religieux dans l’œuvre de Cavafy. Les années de formation (1882-1905), Presses de l’Université de Paris-Sorbonne, París.

SAVVIDIS, G. P. (1968): Anevkdota Poihvmata 1882-1923, Ikaros, Atenas.

SAVVIDIS, G. P. (1993): Krummevna Poihvmata 1877-1923, Ikaros, Atenas.

TERRADAS, I. (2014): «Lohengrin: De l’impecable judici en el drama wagnerià a la sospita en dos poemes de Kavafis», en MARTÍ, M. A., TAULÉ M. (coord.), Homenatge a Sebastià Serrano, Ediciones i Publicaciones UB, Barcelona, pp. 269-285.

WAGNER, R. (1978): Die Musikdramen, Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich.

Published
2018-07-15
How to Cite
Marcos Hierro, Ernest. 2018. “The Call of the Herald: Lohengrin and Kavafis”. Fortunatae, no. 28 (July), 205-12. https://www.ull.es/revistas/index.php/fortvnatae/article/view/2878.
Section
Artículos