I really wanted to say more than this, but this wretched platform defeated me: but what an excellent post! Anything by Cavafy deserves attention and the piece set to Beethoven was enthralling, even if I didn’t understand a word. But, after all, I had your explanation and translation. Thank you.
Modern Greek poetry is not as well-known as it should be; if you do not know them, I would start with O. Elytis and Y. Seféris (both Noble laureates, incidentally).
It is a sort of retort to Cavafy's more famous Waiting for the Barbarians, don’t you think? It fairly hops along, too, metre-wise. I remember encountering various satraps in my Ancient History A level course. Our rather immature class of nine sniggered when our teacher mentioned a certain Pissuthnes, satrap of Lydia, and he added, without a breath. ‘…his friends called him Uthnes’.
A stirring poem. It is an apt analogy of life as we journey through from the start thinking we need to be or perform a certain way, until the middle when we question, and finally reach the point of understanding about who we are and why we are here.
Oh, what a magnificent poem this is...
I really wanted to say more than this, but this wretched platform defeated me: but what an excellent post! Anything by Cavafy deserves attention and the piece set to Beethoven was enthralling, even if I didn’t understand a word. But, after all, I had your explanation and translation. Thank you.
Modern Greek poetry is not as well-known as it should be; if you do not know them, I would start with O. Elytis and Y. Seféris (both Noble laureates, incidentally).
It is a sort of retort to Cavafy's more famous Waiting for the Barbarians, don’t you think? It fairly hops along, too, metre-wise. I remember encountering various satraps in my Ancient History A level course. Our rather immature class of nine sniggered when our teacher mentioned a certain Pissuthnes, satrap of Lydia, and he added, without a breath. ‘…his friends called him Uthnes’.
A stirring poem. It is an apt analogy of life as we journey through from the start thinking we need to be or perform a certain way, until the middle when we question, and finally reach the point of understanding about who we are and why we are here.
What an experience! Thank you so much for the translation and for the provided video. It all feels absolutely magical.
🙏
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