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Remember, Body...
'All those excessive, useless regrets...'
A collection of nostalgic, erotic poetry from one of the greatest Greek poets to have ever lived.
Introducing Little Black 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions.
C.P. Cavafy (1863-1933). The Selected Poems of Cavafy is available in Penguin Classics.
A collection of nostalgic, erotic poetry from one of the greatest Greek poets to have ever lived.
Introducing Little Black 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions.
C.P. Cavafy (1863-1933). The Selected Poems of Cavafy is available in Penguin Classics.
64 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 1933
26 people are currently reading
1562 people want to read
About the author
Constantinos P. Cavafy
174 books538 followersConstantine P. Cavafy (also known as Konstantin or Konstantinos Petrou Kavafis, or Kavaphes; Greek Κ.Π. Καβάφης) was a major Greek poet who worked as a journalist and civil servant. His consciously individual style earned him a place among the most important figures not only in Greek poetry, but in Western poetry as well. He has been called a skeptic and a neo-pagan. In his poetry he examines critically some aspects of Christianity, patriotism, and homosexuality, though he was not always comfortable with his role as a nonconformist. He published 154 poems; dozens more remained incomplete or in sketch form. His most important poetry was written after his fortieth birthday.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 193 reviews
March 23, 2017
Some of the poetry in here is rather powerful. It laments lost love and speaks of a desire to transfer it onto others. This is delusional and is suggestive of a man who cannot let go of his previous experience. He carries it with him like an overbearing shadow. In the present he tries to relive what he has lost; he tries to remember the perfection he once tasted. The poet is clearly stuck in the past, and his memory of one superior love. Nothing comes close to this one ultimate experience. It’s forever in his mind.
I never found them again—mine entirely by chance,
and so easily given up,
then longed for so painfully.
The poetic eyes, the pale face,
those lips—I never found them again.
Many of the poems lament this idea. Love is gone. No new love can compare. But, the poems also convey the idea that it was worth the cost of a lifetime’s longing. Indeed, it was worth it to know one night of sheer fulfilment. I found that after I had read several of the poems, each new one didn’t really do much beyond its predecessors. They all felt relatively similar. The homoeroticism elements were also a little bit too much. In some of the poems it defined them; it was the love that was lost. But, with a couple of them it felt a little pointless. For example, in a couple of cases the poet would describe a scene with a man in it, and then for no reason in particular, he would eroticise it. There wasn’t always emotion involved, so there was little reason to attempt the same effect in these cases. It was erotic for no other reason than being erotic.
I think these poems are the sort that would be enjoyed in small quantities. It’s a good edition to dive in and out of, but not one to read from cover to cover. I appreciate the poet’s desired effect, but after several poems it began to grow a little stale. This isn’t a poet whose works I will explore further in the future, but nor is it at poet I will look back on with unpleasant feelings.
Penguin Little Black Classic- 43
The Little Black Classic Collection by penguin looks like it contains lots of hidden gems. I couldn’t help it; they looked so good that I went and bought them all. I shall post a short review after reading each one. No doubt it will take me several months to get through all of them! Hopefully I will find some classic authors, from across the ages, that I may not have come across had I not bought this collection.
I never found them again—mine entirely by chance,
and so easily given up,
then longed for so painfully.
The poetic eyes, the pale face,
those lips—I never found them again.
Many of the poems lament this idea. Love is gone. No new love can compare. But, the poems also convey the idea that it was worth the cost of a lifetime’s longing. Indeed, it was worth it to know one night of sheer fulfilment. I found that after I had read several of the poems, each new one didn’t really do much beyond its predecessors. They all felt relatively similar. The homoeroticism elements were also a little bit too much. In some of the poems it defined them; it was the love that was lost. But, with a couple of them it felt a little pointless. For example, in a couple of cases the poet would describe a scene with a man in it, and then for no reason in particular, he would eroticise it. There wasn’t always emotion involved, so there was little reason to attempt the same effect in these cases. It was erotic for no other reason than being erotic.
I think these poems are the sort that would be enjoyed in small quantities. It’s a good edition to dive in and out of, but not one to read from cover to cover. I appreciate the poet’s desired effect, but after several poems it began to grow a little stale. This isn’t a poet whose works I will explore further in the future, but nor is it at poet I will look back on with unpleasant feelings.
Penguin Little Black Classic- 43
The Little Black Classic Collection by penguin looks like it contains lots of hidden gems. I couldn’t help it; they looked so good that I went and bought them all. I shall post a short review after reading each one. No doubt it will take me several months to get through all of them! Hopefully I will find some classic authors, from across the ages, that I may not have come across had I not bought this collection.
June 15, 2024
Small as all of the books in this series, this one begs to be left in a stranger's pocket. . . with a name and phone number.
June 2, 2020
Let me stop here. Let me pretend this is actually
what I'm seeing (I really did see it, when I first stopped)
and not, here too, more of those fantasies of mine,
more of those memories, those voluptuous illusions.
***
Return often and take me,
beloved sensation, return and take me -
when the body's memory awakens,
...
Return often and take me at night,
when lips and skin remember.
***
Try to preserve them, poet,
your visions of love,
however few may stay for you.
Cast them, half hidden, into your verse.
Try to hold on to them, poet,
when they come alive in your mind
at night or in the brightness of noon.a
***
An echo from those days of pleasure,
an echo from those days came near,
an ember from our youth's fire;
I took one of his letters
and read it over and over until the light faded.
***
This room how well I know it.
...
Beside the window lay the bed;
the afternoon sunlight reached only half way across it...
That afternoon, at four o'clock, we parted,
just for a week...alas,
the week became forever.
***
It certainly bears some resemblance, this small portrait, done in pencil.
Hastily drawn right there on the ship's deck
one magical afternoon,
the Ionian Sea all around us.
...
Out of Time. All of these things are so very old
-
the sketch, the ship, that afternoon.
what I'm seeing (I really did see it, when I first stopped)
and not, here too, more of those fantasies of mine,
more of those memories, those voluptuous illusions.
***
Return often and take me,
beloved sensation, return and take me -
when the body's memory awakens,
...
Return often and take me at night,
when lips and skin remember.
***
Try to preserve them, poet,
your visions of love,
however few may stay for you.
Cast them, half hidden, into your verse.
Try to hold on to them, poet,
when they come alive in your mind
at night or in the brightness of noon.a
***
An echo from those days of pleasure,
an echo from those days came near,
an ember from our youth's fire;
I took one of his letters
and read it over and over until the light faded.
***
This room how well I know it.
...
Beside the window lay the bed;
the afternoon sunlight reached only half way across it...
That afternoon, at four o'clock, we parted,
just for a week...alas,
the week became forever.
***
It certainly bears some resemblance, this small portrait, done in pencil.
Hastily drawn right there on the ship's deck
one magical afternoon,
the Ionian Sea all around us.
...
Out of Time. All of these things are so very old
-
the sketch, the ship, that afternoon.
October 17, 2018
"Return often and take me at night,
when lips and skin remember."
- CP Cavafis, "Return"
Vol N° 43 of my Penguin Little Black Classics Box Set. This volume contains 50 of C.P. Cavafy's sensual poems assembled from Penguin's 'Selected Poems of Cavafy'.
After having read Durrell's 'Alexandria Quartet' I was prepared for the sensual, erotic, and excessive poetry of Cavafy. I appreciated the poems and a couple I liked a lot. It just didn't resonate with me like other poets have. I can see how certain readers and certain points in life would be HUGELY affected by Cavafy. I think I might have responded better to some of his other poems (historical/philosophical vs sensual). I DID enjoy how personal and evocative his poems were. These short poems are sensual and awaken the reader to the smells, tastes, and longings of Cavafy's memory of his youth and Alexandria.
when lips and skin remember."
- CP Cavafis, "Return"
Vol N° 43 of my Penguin Little Black Classics Box Set. This volume contains 50 of C.P. Cavafy's sensual poems assembled from Penguin's 'Selected Poems of Cavafy'.
After having read Durrell's 'Alexandria Quartet' I was prepared for the sensual, erotic, and excessive poetry of Cavafy. I appreciated the poems and a couple I liked a lot. It just didn't resonate with me like other poets have. I can see how certain readers and certain points in life would be HUGELY affected by Cavafy. I think I might have responded better to some of his other poems (historical/philosophical vs sensual). I DID enjoy how personal and evocative his poems were. These short poems are sensual and awaken the reader to the smells, tastes, and longings of Cavafy's memory of his youth and Alexandria.
December 22, 2019
''His mind grows sick with lust.''
''Αρρώστησεν ο νους του από λαγνεία.''
Beautifully written softcore pornography from a teenage girl's tumblr blog.
I got tired of handing out 4 star ratings so i decided to read some poetry. I don't wanna give it 2 stars so i'm going with 3.
Legit got it for the gay content. i obviously also read the poems in Greek. i decided to suffer twice http://cavafis.compupress.gr/index3.htm .I don't really care for poetry or Cavafy *
*.
''Αρρώστησεν ο νους του από λαγνεία.''
Beautifully written softcore pornography from a teenage girl's tumblr blog.
I got tired of handing out 4 star ratings so i decided to read some poetry. I don't wanna give it 2 stars so i'm going with 3.
Legit got it for the gay content. i obviously also read the poems in Greek. i decided to suffer twice http://cavafis.compupress.gr/index3.htm .I don't really care for poetry or Cavafy *
*. 
June 21, 2018
Ah yes, Cavafis would have loved Tinder. His work has been mostly labeled as sensual and all of the poems collected in this volume are indeed about desire, longing and lust. He seemed obsessed with men in their twenties, which is interesting considering he wrote the majority of his work after hitting his forties. But each to their own.
"I have gazed so much on beauty
that my eyes overflow with it"
Undeniably, a lot of passion went into the creation of these words, but there is more to them as well - something linked to guilt and sadness. There is regret filling these pages, memories of forgotten lovers that left holes no one will ever be able to fill. It's in those moments that Cavafis' poetry felt powerful to me. It made me think about how sometimes to love isn't enough.
"There's nothing left but loitering in cheap taverns.
I'm telling you straight, I can't afford to be with you.
Someone else, you know, is interested in me now."
I liked the poetry and I liked this collection, with some poems really standing out. Yet only a few were able to move me or stick with me beyond the pages they were written on.
In 2015 Penguin introduced the Little Black Classics series to celebrate Penguin's 80th birthday. Including little stories from "around the world and across many centuries" as the publisher describes, I have been intrigued to read those for a long time, before finally having started. I hope to sooner or later read and review all of them!
"I have gazed so much on beauty
that my eyes overflow with it"
Undeniably, a lot of passion went into the creation of these words, but there is more to them as well - something linked to guilt and sadness. There is regret filling these pages, memories of forgotten lovers that left holes no one will ever be able to fill. It's in those moments that Cavafis' poetry felt powerful to me. It made me think about how sometimes to love isn't enough.
"There's nothing left but loitering in cheap taverns.
I'm telling you straight, I can't afford to be with you.
Someone else, you know, is interested in me now."
I liked the poetry and I liked this collection, with some poems really standing out. Yet only a few were able to move me or stick with me beyond the pages they were written on.
In 2015 Penguin introduced the Little Black Classics series to celebrate Penguin's 80th birthday. Including little stories from "around the world and across many centuries" as the publisher describes, I have been intrigued to read those for a long time, before finally having started. I hope to sooner or later read and review all of them!
June 26, 2025
Good content does not good poetry make. Did this guy just walk around pointing at things and going “Wow so sensual.. so sensuous. What a sensual sensation”
August 4, 2015
Wow! This collection of poetry is really beautiful. There was sense of sadness, beauty, regrets, forbidden love, it was all the good things and then some more. I have found a new favorite poet in the person of C.P. Cavafy. Ahhh I just can't get over how good it was!
Remember, Body..
Body, remember not only how deeply you were loved,
not only the many beds where you lay,
but also those desires that flashed
openly in their eyes
or trembled in the voice - and were thwarted
by some chance impediment.
Now that all of them are locked away in the past,
it almost seems as if you surrendered
to even those pre-empted desires - how they flashed,
remember,
in the eyes of those who looked at you, how they trembled
in the voice for you, remeber, body.
In Despair
He's lost him for good, and now on the lips
of each new lover he seeks the lips
of the one he lost; in every embrace
with each new lover he tries to believe
that he's giving himself to the same young man.
He's lost him for good, as if he's never existed.
The boy wished - so he said - he wished to be freed
from the stigma and reproach of that unhealthy pleasure;
from the stigma and reproach of that shameful pleasure.
It wasn't too late - he said - for him to break free.
He's lost him for good, as if he'd never existed.
Through imagination, and self-delusion,
he seeks those lips on the lips of others;
he's trying to feel the lost love again.
These two poems are my ultimate favorite! ❤️
Remember, Body..
Body, remember not only how deeply you were loved,
not only the many beds where you lay,
but also those desires that flashed
openly in their eyes
or trembled in the voice - and were thwarted
by some chance impediment.
Now that all of them are locked away in the past,
it almost seems as if you surrendered
to even those pre-empted desires - how they flashed,
remember,
in the eyes of those who looked at you, how they trembled
in the voice for you, remeber, body.
In Despair
He's lost him for good, and now on the lips
of each new lover he seeks the lips
of the one he lost; in every embrace
with each new lover he tries to believe
that he's giving himself to the same young man.
He's lost him for good, as if he's never existed.
The boy wished - so he said - he wished to be freed
from the stigma and reproach of that unhealthy pleasure;
from the stigma and reproach of that shameful pleasure.
It wasn't too late - he said - for him to break free.
He's lost him for good, as if he'd never existed.
Through imagination, and self-delusion,
he seeks those lips on the lips of others;
he's trying to feel the lost love again.
These two poems are my ultimate favorite! ❤️
June 11, 2016
Never have I read such inane tosh as this. As I read more and more poetry I am starting to learn what is good and what is not.
This is terrible........
This is terrible........
March 31, 2019
En estos días me he sentido tocado y enamorado de la poesía. Por eso mismo recurro a estas pequeñas dosis de versos editados Random House que enfocan de buena manera la obra de un autor.
De Cavafis poco decir, transmite sus sentimientos con nostalgia y plena sensatez. Paseamos por recuerdos, notas, sueños... ya sean históricos, presentes o ficticios siempre hay algo que nos pone a tono y en contacto con lo que quiere decir.
VUELVE
"Vuelve a menudo y llévame contigo,
dilecta sensación, vuelve y llévame contigo –
cuando el recuerdo del cuerpo despierta,
y un antiguo deseo retorna a la sangre;
cuando los labios y la piel recuerdan
y sienten las manos que vuelven a tocar.
Vuelve a menudo y llévame, de noche,
cuando los labios y la piel recuerdan…"
De Cavafis poco decir, transmite sus sentimientos con nostalgia y plena sensatez. Paseamos por recuerdos, notas, sueños... ya sean históricos, presentes o ficticios siempre hay algo que nos pone a tono y en contacto con lo que quiere decir.
VUELVE
"Vuelve a menudo y llévame contigo,
dilecta sensación, vuelve y llévame contigo –
cuando el recuerdo del cuerpo despierta,
y un antiguo deseo retorna a la sangre;
cuando los labios y la piel recuerdan
y sienten las manos que vuelven a tocar.
Vuelve a menudo y llévame, de noche,
cuando los labios y la piel recuerdan…"
August 14, 2020
Some Greek poetry in the Little Black Classics collection, and it is relatively modern (as in the author has not been dead for the past two millennia).
These are sensual poems. There is a lot of love and maybe more so longing for love. This feeling was portrayed rather well, but the poems became sort of repetitive rather quickly and I am not sure I really enjoyed them.
It was nice to try, but not really something I long to read more of.
~Little Black Classics #43~
Find this and other reviews on https://www.urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
These are sensual poems. There is a lot of love and maybe more so longing for love. This feeling was portrayed rather well, but the poems became sort of repetitive rather quickly and I am not sure I really enjoyed them.
It was nice to try, but not really something I long to read more of.
~Little Black Classics #43~
Find this and other reviews on https://www.urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
May 28, 2015
The first 20 pages of this were all really amazing poems. Shame the rest of this small collection was just whinging: 'There's this really hot guy, and all we do is fuck (which is illegal, which only makes it hotter) but now he's buggered off and I'm all alone, wah-wah-wah' - if that doesn't sum up every poem from page 30 on-wards, it's near enough as makes no difference. The three stars here is only for the first 20 pages, which are full of genuinely amazing poems.
August 31, 2017
So this is Greek poetry from the 19th century about homosexual sex, lust, lost loves and nostalgia. Some pieces were really good (and I wish I could read the originals) others were a bit same-y.
January 6, 2025
Beautiful, nostalgic, tragic, words from a lost time and words that could still be spoken today. Absolutely love it.
June 22, 2025
most booktokers//booktubers who publish homoerotic literature (Alberto Villareal) WISH to have an inch of the talent that these poems have.
April 30, 2017
Wow.
I have a somewhat mild dislike of poetry, but Cavafy has completely claimed me with this edition. The verses are so powerful and lamentful; speaking of lost love, the poet is entirely unable to let go of that which he once had, and the words mourn the loss of his beautiful paramour and detail his memory of him.
There's a real rawness to the poems, an ache. The forbidden love Cavafy relates is only too real, not to mention the obsession.
As always with collections like these, some were better than others. I found Candles, The Tobacconist's Window, and The Mirror in the Entrance Hall to be particularly powerful. Others didn't speak to me quite so much, and their similarity allowed for a slight feeling of them blending into one another.
This is a wonderful collection of poetry, and one I'm sure I'll go back to again.
I have a somewhat mild dislike of poetry, but Cavafy has completely claimed me with this edition. The verses are so powerful and lamentful; speaking of lost love, the poet is entirely unable to let go of that which he once had, and the words mourn the loss of his beautiful paramour and detail his memory of him.
There's a real rawness to the poems, an ache. The forbidden love Cavafy relates is only too real, not to mention the obsession.
As always with collections like these, some were better than others. I found Candles, The Tobacconist's Window, and The Mirror in the Entrance Hall to be particularly powerful. Others didn't speak to me quite so much, and their similarity allowed for a slight feeling of them blending into one another.
This is a wonderful collection of poetry, and one I'm sure I'll go back to again.
October 9, 2024
damm i wasn't assuming liking this, this much.
Even though the theme kinda repeats a lot, all the poems are very beautiful and portray the theme of homosexuality in different forms.
quote:
"He's lost him for good, and now on the lips
of each new lover he seeks the lips
of the one he lost; in every embrace
with each new lover he tries to believe
that he's giving himself to the same young man.
He's lost him for good, as if he'd never existed.
The boy wished - so he said - he wished to be freed from the stigma and reproach of that unhealthy pleasure from the stigma and reproach of that shameful pleasure
It wasn't too late - he said - for him to break free.
He's lost him for good, as if he'd never existed.
Through imagination, and self-delusion,
he seeks those lips on the lips of others;
he's trying to feel that lost love again."
Even though the theme kinda repeats a lot, all the poems are very beautiful and portray the theme of homosexuality in different forms.
quote:
"He's lost him for good, and now on the lips
of each new lover he seeks the lips
of the one he lost; in every embrace
with each new lover he tries to believe
that he's giving himself to the same young man.
He's lost him for good, as if he'd never existed.
The boy wished - so he said - he wished to be freed from the stigma and reproach of that unhealthy pleasure from the stigma and reproach of that shameful pleasure
It wasn't too late - he said - for him to break free.
He's lost him for good, as if he'd never existed.
Through imagination, and self-delusion,
he seeks those lips on the lips of others;
he's trying to feel that lost love again."
February 20, 2023
some of the best poetry i’ve read so far
January 7, 2017
A pocket-sized reminder that poetry is dangerous!
more on my blog
more on my blog
February 6, 2017
4.5 stars.
I loved these. They were so raw and real, and easy to understand. My favourite poem was 'Lovely Flowers, White Ones, That Matched So Well.' I'm definitely interested in reading more.
I loved these. They were so raw and real, and easy to understand. My favourite poem was 'Lovely Flowers, White Ones, That Matched So Well.' I'm definitely interested in reading more.
August 24, 2022
Holy shit that was good. Totally didn’t expect it but it hypnotized me from the beginning and contained so many stunning poems with such vivid nostalgia, memory and warmth. I just teleported to old Paris, living away the day in a bed on the floor of a studio, appreciating beauty and loving with my entire heart. Wow that was incredible. Such great and brilliant text
December 27, 2021
This book was incredible. The poetry was astonishing. It took us through a story of two men who fell in love in a time and place they were not allowed to. It takes us through the feelings of shame and passion he feels during this.
September 6, 2023
Beautiful
Read
July 18, 2025Memory, keep those eyes just as they were.
And memory, whatever you can salvage of that passion of mine,
whatever you can, bring back to me tonight.
And memory, whatever you can salvage of that passion of mine,
whatever you can, bring back to me tonight.
October 20, 2025
se vas emprender a viaxe cara itaca pide que o teu camiño sexa longo cheo de aventuras cheo de coñecementos
October 3, 2017
Remember, Body... is actually one of the collections of poetry which I bought in Paris. I found this little book at the Abbey Bookshop. A marvelous secondhand bookshop in the mids of the Quartier Latin. It's a place full of nooks and crannies, and most importantly stacks upon stacks of books. It's wonderful.
Therefore, I don't mind it at all that Cavafy's poetry wasn't for me. It has been marketed as 'moving, sensual verses', and whilst I can't agree with the first statement (his poems didn't move me at all), the latter is an understatement. I wouldn't call his poetry 'sensual', I would go downright with 'erotic' or 'explicit' or straight up 'horny'. Dear Lord, was Cavafy horny.
The Egyptian Greek poet wrote 154 poems, while dozens more remained incomplete or in sketch form. During his lifetime, he consistently refused to formally publish his work and preferred to share it through local newspapers and magazines, or even print it out himself and give it away to anyone interested. Uncertainty about the future, sensual pleasures, the moral character and psychology of individuals, homosexuality, and a fatalistic existential nostalgia are some of the defining themes.
Cavafy was definitely a skilled writer. I don't know how much got lost in translation (even though I'd say that Avi Sharon did a good job because all of the poems flowed nicely), but his prosaic use of metaphors and his aesthetic perfectionism really made some of his poems stand out.
Anyways, it got tiresome quite quickly to read about Cavafy's desire, him being horny, and in general, it irked me out how obsessed he was with young men in their twenties (given the fact that he wrote these poems when he was in his forties).
In conclusion, I'd say that Cavafy managed to convey his feelings of being lost and alone with his desires in some of his poems (which is why this collection is still worth a read), but most poems were too over-the-top to evoke any emotions in me.
I have gazed so much on beautyI then proceeded on reading the first half of Cavafy's poems on the metro, and the second half in the Louvre. I sat down in a little turret in the department of islamic art, I finished the reading the collection. It was such a nice experience that I won't ever forget.
that my eyes overflow with it.
Therefore, I don't mind it at all that Cavafy's poetry wasn't for me. It has been marketed as 'moving, sensual verses', and whilst I can't agree with the first statement (his poems didn't move me at all), the latter is an understatement. I wouldn't call his poetry 'sensual', I would go downright with 'erotic' or 'explicit' or straight up 'horny'. Dear Lord, was Cavafy horny.
The Egyptian Greek poet wrote 154 poems, while dozens more remained incomplete or in sketch form. During his lifetime, he consistently refused to formally publish his work and preferred to share it through local newspapers and magazines, or even print it out himself and give it away to anyone interested. Uncertainty about the future, sensual pleasures, the moral character and psychology of individuals, homosexuality, and a fatalistic existential nostalgia are some of the defining themes.
Their illicit pleasure has been fulfilled.It was very interested to read about Cavafy's sexuality and how, sadly, his homoerotic feelings were always linked with feelings of shame and guilt. He talked a lot about love and sex being the only way to escape the horrors and taboos of society.
They get up and dress quickly, without a word.
They come out of the house separately, furtively;
and as they move along the street a bit unsettled,
it seems they sense that something about them betrays
what kind of bed they’ve just been lying on.
Cavafy was definitely a skilled writer. I don't know how much got lost in translation (even though I'd say that Avi Sharon did a good job because all of the poems flowed nicely), but his prosaic use of metaphors and his aesthetic perfectionism really made some of his poems stand out.
Immersed again in art, I recover from the labour of creating it.Gosh, I love that line, and will probably never forget it.
Anyways, it got tiresome quite quickly to read about Cavafy's desire, him being horny, and in general, it irked me out how obsessed he was with young men in their twenties (given the fact that he wrote these poems when he was in his forties).
In conclusion, I'd say that Cavafy managed to convey his feelings of being lost and alone with his desires in some of his poems (which is why this collection is still worth a read), but most poems were too over-the-top to evoke any emotions in me.
December 31, 2015
Constantin Cavafy's 'Ithaka' is one of my alltime favourite poems. When I discovered this slim poetry collection of his, I thought I will read it. Maybe I will find more poems like 'Ithaka'. Well, this collection was good. But very different from what I expected. Most of them were nearly story-like and set in time between 1890 and 1910. Most of them were set in Alexandria. And most of them were about a young man in love with another young man or an older man in love with a younger man. So, in essence, it was an LGBT poetry collection. Cavafy's poetry flows beautifully. In some poems he experiments with form like a post modern poet. Here are two of my favourite poems.
Insight
The years of my youth, my sensual adolescence -
how clearly I see their meaning now.
All those excessive, useless regrets...
I didn't see the meaning then.
For in the dissolute life of my youth
the plans for my poetry were taking shape;
the boundaries of my art were being drawn.
That's why my regrets were never firm,
and my determination to refrain, to change my ways,
lasted two weeks at most.
Candles
The days of the future stand before us
like a line of burning candles -
golden candles, warm with life.
Behind them stand the days of our past,
a pitiful row of candles extinguished,
the nearest still sending up their smoke :
cold and melted, withered sticks.
I don't want to look; their image makes me sad,
it saddens me to recall their kindling.
I look ahead at the ones still burning.
I don't want to turn and see, with horror,
how quickly the line of shadow lengthens,
how quickly the number of snuffed candles grows.
Insight
The years of my youth, my sensual adolescence -
how clearly I see their meaning now.
All those excessive, useless regrets...
I didn't see the meaning then.
For in the dissolute life of my youth
the plans for my poetry were taking shape;
the boundaries of my art were being drawn.
That's why my regrets were never firm,
and my determination to refrain, to change my ways,
lasted two weeks at most.
Candles
The days of the future stand before us
like a line of burning candles -
golden candles, warm with life.
Behind them stand the days of our past,
a pitiful row of candles extinguished,
the nearest still sending up their smoke :
cold and melted, withered sticks.
I don't want to look; their image makes me sad,
it saddens me to recall their kindling.
I look ahead at the ones still burning.
I don't want to turn and see, with horror,
how quickly the line of shadow lengthens,
how quickly the number of snuffed candles grows.
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February 4, 2017
"Return often and take me,
beloved sensation, return and take me -
when the body's memory awakens."
Egyptian Cavafy wrote my favourite poem, Ithaka, yet these poems are very different to that. These are nostalgic, almost homo-erotic writings that look back on a youth spent in love. They are not all good, but they are all truthful. In some, there are wonderful lines of sensual magic, but a lot of them are a little repetitive.
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beloved sensation, return and take me -
when the body's memory awakens."
Egyptian Cavafy wrote my favourite poem, Ithaka, yet these poems are very different to that. These are nostalgic, almost homo-erotic writings that look back on a youth spent in love. They are not all good, but they are all truthful. In some, there are wonderful lines of sensual magic, but a lot of them are a little repetitive.
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August 29, 2015
C. P. Cavafy is one of my favorite poets.
I prefer his historical and philosophical poems, however, and realized that I dislike his erotic poems. The first 20 of his poems in this collection were the former, and are absolutely brilliant. 'The God Abandons Antony' has been one of my favorites, even before reading this collection, and I discovered a new one, 'Insight' whilst reading this one.
The rest of his collection was dragged down by homosexual, erotic poetry. It was repetitive and did not contribute, at least to me, anything novel to the romantic poem. It was a good thing that the early poems buoyed the subpar erotic poems later in the collection.
I prefer his historical and philosophical poems, however, and realized that I dislike his erotic poems. The first 20 of his poems in this collection were the former, and are absolutely brilliant. 'The God Abandons Antony' has been one of my favorites, even before reading this collection, and I discovered a new one, 'Insight' whilst reading this one.
The rest of his collection was dragged down by homosexual, erotic poetry. It was repetitive and did not contribute, at least to me, anything novel to the romantic poem. It was a good thing that the early poems buoyed the subpar erotic poems later in the collection.
April 11, 2024
as an obsessive of the corporeal form and it’s poetic potential, I’m constantly on the lookout for art or any aesthetic project or philosophy specifically aimed at the divizination of the body as a form of worship and undiscovered sensuality and desire. this offered the occasional glimpse of something resembling decent poetry but it’s nothing that hasn’t been surpassed already by orders of magnitude.
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