No Echoes by R J Dent

Villa Anamaria is an ornate Art Nouveau-style villa in Pefkos, on the Greek island of Rhodes. It is at the end of a beach road overlooking Askeftos Bay. The villa used to belong to Pink Floyd guitarist, David Gilmour, who sold it to an Italian couple several years ago.

 

Villa Anamaria 1990

 

On Pefkos maps, Villa Anamaria is still referred to as the ‘Pink Floyd Villa’.

It has been on the market for nearly five years, and is currently valued at 1.1 million Euros. So far, no one has offered to buy it, and Villa Anamaria is gradually beginning to look like an unloved, derelict building.

 

No Echoes

 

Once, Villa Anamaria, an ornate house

above a rocky, remote Rhodian bay,

was neat, discrete, resplendent in hot sun,

with turquoise wrought-iron gates and walled garden,

olive tree-lined stone drive and marbled paths

that led to subtly-arranged glades of shade,

past Grecian urns, manicured lawns, statues.

 

Now, just a millionaire’s discarded toy,

empty, abandoned, unwanted, disowned,

no echoes of the distant past resound

or sound in rooms now empty but for dust.

Silence, shutters askew, sun-faded walls,

cracked paving, overgrown groves, creeping weeds,

an empty swimming pool, lawns gone to seed.

 

 

Villa Anamaria 2016

 

No Echoes

by R J Dent

 

Copyright © R J Dent (2016)

 

Follow R J Dent’s work on:

 

Website: http://www.rjdent.com/

Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/R.-J.-Dent/e/B0034Q3RD4

Blog: https://rjdent.wordpress.com/

twitter: https://twitter.com/RJDent

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rjdentwriter

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/rjdent69

 

The Love Song of Daphnis & Chloe by Nigel Humphreys

A review by R J Dent

The Love Song of Daphnis and Chloe

by Nigel Humphreys

Edited by Catherine Edmunds

Published by Circaidy Gregory Press

ISBN: 9781906451882

 

 

Daphnis and Chloe (Greek: Δάφνις καὶ Χλόη, Daphnis kai Chloē) is the only known work of the 2nd century AD Greek novelist, Longus.

The Love Song of Daphnis & Chloe began when Nigel Humphreys read George Thornley’s 1670 English translation of Longus’ Greek novel, Daphnis and Chloe, written on Lesbos.

Nigel Humphreys became obsessed with the task of re-interpreting Longus’ pastoral romantic novel into an epic modern poem that would appeal to twenty-first century readers and retain the beauty, charm, romance and humour of the original.

First and foremost, The Love Song of Daphnis & Chloe is the story of a boy (Daphnis) and a girl (Chloe), each of whom is exposed at birth along with some identifying tokens. A goatherd named Lamon discovers Daphnis, and a shepherd called Dryas finds Chloe.

 

Each decides to raise the child he finds as his own. Daphnis and Chloe grow up together, herding the flocks for their foster parents.

And so it was preordained –

decreed by divine intercession –

that they raise them as their own.

And having shared their dreams…

they introduced their children

to their work as herdsmen…

Inevitably, Daphnis and Chloe fall in love, but being naïve, do not understand what is happening to them.

Yet among them Daphnis

was unable to settle since

he had seen Chloe naked,

honeyed, tender, scented

and more lovely than Venus

in all her sensuousness.

Philetas, a wise old cowherd, explains to them what love is and tells them that the only cure is kissing. They do this.

All they saw was that kisses

had endangered Daphnis

and day-dreaming Chloe

in that mazy month of May.

Eventually, Lycaenion, a woman from the city, educates Daphnis in the skills of love-making.

And so Lycenia…

finding him primed and greedy,

slipped slickly beneath him

and shepherded his limbs

to where they longed to be.

What followed came naturally…

Throughout the book, Chloe is courted by suitors, two of whom (Dorcon and Lampis) attempt with varying degrees of success to abduct her. She is also carried off by raiders from a nearby city:

Yet Chloe was with her herd

and fled from the invaders

to the Nymphs’ Cave begging

them to spare her and her kin

in the name of the Goddesses.

And she is only saved by the intervention of the god Pan.

Oh, you most cruel dissolute

of mortals! … restore

Chloe to the Nymphs with all

her flocks. Awake therefore

and send the maiden ashore

with her sheep and goats,

and I will steer her home,

and guide her to her lands.

The story concludes with both Daphnis and Chloe being recognized by their birth parents, after which, the couple get married and happily live out their lives in the country. On their wedding night:

… the stars,

moon and planets hurrahed.

The married pair were squired

to their room in rush light

by pipes and flutes, and Daphnis

lay with Chloe skin against skin.

Cuddling tightly and kissing,

entwining and twisting…

 

Nigel Humphreys’ The Love Song of Daphnis & Chloe is a beautifully written modern epic version of an Ancient Greek classic. Humphreys has taken Longus’ prose and given us a delightful poem of incredible warmth, wit and wisdom.

 From the back cover:

Bucolic shenanigans on the Island of Lesbos

Poet Nigel Humphreys has done something unique and surprising with the ancient text of Daphnis & Chloe, taking a rambling 2nd century prose narrative and transforming it into an epic poem in the oral tradition of Ancient Greece.

Daphnis & Chloe is complemented in this edition by five new Daffyd ap Gwylim translations, which Humphreys has returned to the original cywydd form in order to recapture the colour and humour of the 14th century Welsh troubadour poet.

 

 

THE LOVE SONG OF DAPHNIS & CHLOE

by Nigel Humphreys

Edited by Catherine Edmunds

Published by Circaidy Gregory Press.

ISBN: 9781906451882

Follow Nigel Humphries:

Website:

http://nigelhumphreyspoet.webs.com/daphnis-and-chloe-2015

Circaidy Gregory Press:

http://www.circaidygregory.co.uk/nigel_humphreys.htm

Amazon:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-Song-Daphnis-Chloe-Dafydd/dp/1906451885

 

Skiathos

Skiathos is a small Greek island in the northwest Aegean Sea.

Skiathos is the westernmost island in the Northern Sporades group.

It is located east of the Pelion peninsula in Magnesia on the mainland, and west of the island of Skopelos.

The modern major road on Skiathos runs along the eastern and southern coast.

Narrower roads, some paved and some dirt, reach the interior and the northwest coastline.

There is regular, and during tourist season, very frequent bus transit from the main town to the Koukounaries beach in the southwest. There are three bus routes on the island.

The core route is from the main town to Koukounaries beach which travels along the south coast of the island. There are in total 26 bus stops, with Koukounaries Beach being the last stop, number 26.

This route operates a fleet of five coaches as frequently as five times an hour during the summer peak season throughout the day, but is significantly reduced during the winter.

 

 

Skiathos

Copyright © R J Dent (2015)

 

Follow R J Dent’s work on:

website: http://www.rjdent.com/

blog: https://rjdent.wordpress.com/

twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/RJDent

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rjdentwriter

youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/rjdent69

 

Alcaeus: Poems & Fragments translated by R J Dent

R J Dent’s English translation of the ancient Greek Poems & Fragments of Alcaeus is now available in paperback and e-book formats.

R J Dent discusses the inspiration behind his translation of Alcaeus: Poems & Fragments:

R J Dent reads ‘The North Wind’ from Alcaeus: Poems & Fragments:

R J Dent reads ‘To be weighed down…’ from Alcaeus: Poems & Fragments:

A promotional book trailer for Alcaeus: Poems & Fragments, translated into modern English by R J Dent:

Alcaeus: Poems & Fragments is available from Circaidy Gregory Press:

http://www.circaidygregory.co.uk/alcaeus.htm

and from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alcaeus-Fragments-R-J-Dent/dp/1906451532/ref=la_B0034Q3RD4_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381150009&sr=1-3

www.rjdent.com

 

 

 

Myth by R J Dent

R J Dent’s Myth is a fantasy/horror novel set on a Greek island.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

R J Dent provides some information on his novel, Myth:

R J Dent reads an excerpt from his novel, Myth:

The book trailer for R J Dent’s novel, Myth:

A promotional poster for R J Dent’s novel, Myth:

Myth is available as an e-book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Myth-ebook/dp/B00FV6XBUY/ref=la_B0034Q3RD4_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381743927&sr=1-7

and as a paperback:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Myth-R-J-Dent/dp/1843862670/ref=la_B0034Q3RD4_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381743927&sr=1-4

http://www.rjdent.com

R J Dent reads from the Poems & Fragments of Alcaeus

 

To be weighed down…

 

The North wind…

 

The whole cargo…

 

R J Dent on Alcaeus: Poems & Fragments

 

Book trailer for Alcaeus: Poems & Fragments

 

Alcaeus: Poems & Fragments

Translated into modern English by R J Dent

Published by Circaidy Gregory Press: http://www.circaidygregory.co.uk/alcaeus.htm

 

http://www.rjdent.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

In R J Dent’s Library – Daphnis and Chloe by Longus

 

A look in R J Dent’s library at the influential ancient Greek pastoral novel by Longus – Daphnis and Chloe.

 

 

In R J Dent’s Library – Daphnis and Chloe by Longus

 

Text (c) R J Dent (2013)

Film (c) R J Dent (2013)

 

http://www.rjdent.com

 

 

 

 

Alcaeus in Santorini

Copies of the Poems & Fragments of Alcaeus, translated into English by the poet and novelist R J Dent, and published by Circaidy Gregory Press, are now available to buy at Atlantis Books in Santorini.

Atlantis Books is a truly amazing bookshop. It’s on the Main Marble Road in Oia, Santorini. Inside, it’s a bibliophile’s treasure-trove.

Alcaeus’s Poems & Fragments has made its way across the world and onto a shelf of Greek poetry and literature in Atlantis Books. It’s almost as though Alcaeus has gone home.

Here’s Alcaeus alongside Philip Sherrard, Dionysios Solōmos, Arthur Machen, Homer, and other distinguished Greek and Anglo-Greek authors and scholars.

Atlantis Books in Oia, Santorini, is one of the bibliophile wonders of the world. There is no other bookshop quite like it.

It’s fitting that Alcaeus: Poems & Fragments is now available to lovers of Greek poetry and Greek literature – on a Greek island as beautiful as Santorini, and in a bookshop as unique as Atlantis Books.

Atlantis Books, Main Marble Road, Oia, Santorini, Cyclades, Greece.

http://www.atlantisbooks.org/

 

Alcaeus: Poems & Fragments, translated into English by R J Dent.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alcaeus-Fragments-R-J-Dent/dp/1906451532/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_3

 

Circaidy Gregory Press, Hastings, Sussex, UK.

http://www.circaidygregory.co.uk/

 

R J Dent

www.rjdent.com

 

Alcaeus: Poems & Fragments

 Translated by R J Dent

Alcaeus: Poems & Fragments – translated by R J Dent (ISBN 978-1-906451-53-0)

R J Dent’s sensitive modern English translation of the complete Poems & Fragments of Alcaeus is now available to download onto your Kindle at:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alcaeus-Poems-Fragments-ebook/dp/B007HT1ISA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1331151350&sr=1-1

and:

http://www.amazon.com/Alcaeus-Poems-Fragments-ebook/dp/B007HT1ISA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1331151639&sr=8-2

and in ePub format (Sony, Kobo, etc) at:

http://www.hive.co.uk/ebook/alcaeus-poems-fragments/14018263/

and:

http://www.tescoebooks.com/tescoweb/search/SearchSingletitle.aspx?E=9781906451547

Alcaeus: Poems & Fragments is also available in paperback from Circaidy Gregory Press at:

http://www.circaidygregory.co.uk/alcaeus.htm

and from Amazon.co.uk:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alcaeus-Poems-Fragments/dp/1906451532/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329660575&sr=1-1

Alcaeus was a fellow countryman and contemporary of Sappho, and his beautiful and delicate poetry is often overshadowed by Sappho’s reputation. R J Dent has now translated all of Alcaeus’s Poems & Fragments from ancient Greek into lively modern English in an attempt to rescue Alcaeus’s ethereal poetry from obscurity.

There is no other published translation of Alcaeus: Poems & Fragments in existence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZManZM65dGA&feature=plcp

Product Details:

Title: Alcaeus: Poems & Fragments – translated by R J Dent [Paperback Edition]

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-906451-53-0

Title: Alcaeus: Poems & Fragments – translated by R J Dent [Kindle Edition]

e-book ISBN: 978-1-906451-54-7

Translator: R J Dent

© R J Dent (2012)

Language: English 

Pages: 112

Paperback ISBN 978-1-906451-53-0 £7.49.  Orders available to trade and retail customers from http://www.circaidygregory.co.uk or to trade via Nielsen Teleorders. Contact sales@circaidygregory.co.uk for discount and SoR terms.

Alcaeus: Poems & Fragments (in paperback and kindle formats) is now available from Amazon, and in all other eformats from all i-stores. Orders available to trade from Gardners and Baker and Taylor.

Here’s a recent review of Alcaeus: Poems & Fragments:

http://hastingsonlinetimes.co.uk/arts-culture/creative-writing/a

R J Dent’s published works include a novel, Myth; translations of Charles Baudelaire’s The Flowers of Evil & Artificial Paradise; of Le Comte de Lautréamont’s The Songs of Maldoror; of Alcaeus’s Poems & Fragments; a Gothic novella, Deliverance; a poetry collection, Moonstone Silhouettes, and various stories, articles, essays, poems, etc, in a wide range of magazines, periodicals and journals, including Orbis, Philosophy Now, Acumen and Writer’s Muse. 

R J Dent’s Amazon page can be found at:

 http://www.amazon.co.uk/R.-J.-Dent

Details of R J Dent’s other works – novels, novellas, translations, stories, poems, essays and songs – are available on www.rjdent.com

Follow R J Dent’s work on:

website: http://www.rjdent.com/

blog: https://rjdent.wordpress.com/

twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/RJDent

facebook:http://www.facebook.com/pages/R-J-Dent/344369095423?v=wall

youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/rjdent69?feature=mhum#p/a/u/0/CmnYHWJqQK4

 

 

Myth by R J Dent

‘A cross between An American Werewolf in London and Clive Barker’s Nightbreed’ (Amazon)

This is R J Dent’s novel Myth,  a dark, erotic fantasy set on a Greek island.

It tells the story of a couple (James and Penny) who hear about the chimera, a strange mythical creature that lives in the hills. They, of course, are sceptical, but also curious. Eventually, curiosity wins out and they set off with a guide, up into the hills to see the chimera for themselves.

Obviously things aren’t as they seem and the couple end up trapped in the hills. The man, James Barrett, defends himself against an attacker, but becomes susceptible to the suggestion that he is now the mythical beast, having defeated the one that attacked him.

He rejects this idea and instead focuses on caring for Penny, who has been injured. James then tries to get back to the village, only to realise that the whole village have duped him. He then opts for revenge against the village and goes on the rampage, destroying everyone he comes into contact with. He becomes monstrous.

R J Dent says: ‘I wrote Myth because I was interested in the way people change when they’re in exotic locations – if they’re not xenophobic they either go native, become very nationalistic, or else become a wistful hybrid of the two. That was my starting point. I then simply added a Greek myth scenario, using the chimera as the indigenous antagonist.’

‘The Greek myth element decided the location, and the rest was simply charting what happened to the couple. I used Pavese’s idea that ‘travelling is a brutality’ – and that was it; I had my novel. All that was needed was an ending – which was made clear to me after I read Robert Graves’ comment that every Greek myth had a regional variation. With that in mind, I gave Myth seven very different regional variations.’

‘Writing Myth was a very good experience. I used a great deal of my familiarity with, and love of, various Greek islands, to inform my novel. I used locations, characters, names, etc, that I know well. For the last five years I’ve steeped myself in Greek culture. Some of that is reflected in Myth.’

Myth is ‘a cross between An American Werewolf in London and Clive Barker’s Nightbreed.’ (Amazon review)

You can buy Myth from Amazon.com at:

http://www.amazon.com/R.-J.-Dent/e/B0034Q3RD4/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1289859314&sr=8-1

or from Amazon.co.uk at:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/R.-J.-Dent/e/B0034Q3RD4/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Details of my other works (books, stories, poems, essays) are available on:

www.rjdent.com