Cavafy was concise and accurate; so much so that he would work on each of his verses again and again making sure that it was in its final and perfect form before he would mail it to anyone; most of this of course is lost in the translation, as such an element in writing is impossible to replicate in another language.He drew most of his inspiration for the historical poems from the first and second centuries B.C. and the Hellinistic Era of Alexandria around and after the days of Alexander the Great. His love poems were entirely devoted to adult love between men; there is not a single mention of a woman as the subject of erotic love in his poems. The image of the kore, an erotic subject of other poets, is absent from his stanzas. Reference to women in Cavafy's work is only about older, mature and gracious figures playing out their roles in the Hellinistic era or Byzantium's golden age.Cavafy wrote mostly in free verse although there were times when he used rhyme to emphasize irony; the number of syllables per verse varied from ten to seventeen.Cavafy's inspiration derives from many different subjects; in one of the well known poems, Ithaka, he explores, like Odysseus on his return to his home island after the Trojan War, the pleasure and importance of the way to a goal rather than the goal itself, and shows that the process of achieving something is important because of all the experience it makes possible.
close this panelThis is a beautiful collection of poems by one of the most important Greek poets, Constantine Cavafy, translated from the original text by Manolis, another very talented Greek-Canadian poet. Translations are most effective when they pay attention to the contextual integration of the author's culture, its mannerisms, the resonance and reach of the words, making the flow from one language to the other appear natural, not acquired. When a poet translates another poet's work, it is like a musical exchange. This is exactly what Manolis did with Cavafy's poetry: unwrapping creatively the pulse and the rhythm of the original text. He doesn't disturb the breathing and fulgurations of this melodious voice from Alexandria. Actually, he joins these timeless songs which are Cavafy's poems, and sings along in a duet that bridges over from Greek into English in the most harmonious manner.
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