Editing Giorgos Seferis (section)

===Cyprus===
Seferis first visited [[Cyprus]] in November 1953. He immediately fell in love with the island, partly because of its resemblance, in its landscape, the mixture of populations, and in its traditions, to his childhood summer home in Skala (Urla). His book of poems ''Imerologio Katastromatos III'' was inspired by the island, and mostly written there, bringing to an end a period of six or seven years in which Seferis had not produced any poetry. Its original title ''Cyprus, where it was ordained for me...'' (a quotation from [[Euripides]]' ''[[Helen (play)|Helen]]'' in which [[Teucer]] states that [[Apollo]] has decreed that Cyprus shall be his home) made clear the optimistic sense of homecoming Seferis felt on discovering the island. Seferis changed the title in the 1959 edition of his poems.

Politically, Cyprus was entangled in the dispute between the UK, Greece and [[Turkey]] over its international status. Over the next few years, Seferis made use of his position in the diplomatic service to strive towards a resolution of the [[Cyprus dispute]], investing a great deal of personal effort and emotion. This was one of the few areas in his life in which he allowed the personal and the political to mix. Seferis described his political principles as "[[liberalism|liberal]] and democratic [or republican]."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Beaton |first1=Roderick |title=George Seferis: Waiting for the Angel |date=2003 |publisher=Yale University Press |page=456}}</ref>