The Life and Afterlife of Political Verse

When and why did political verse lose its dominant place in Modern Greek poetry? Which Modern Greek poets improved on the appeal of political verse? How and to what extent was political verse transformed or destabilized? Which historical developments contributed to its permutation and weakening? What did these changes add to Modern Greek poetry? This paper answers these questions first by examining the long life of political verse, and then by looking at its "afterlife." It also discusses the contribution of two major poets, Kostis Palamas and Anghelos Sikelianos, in reshaping earlier forms of political verse.