Translating poetry is a hell of a job, but
there are exceptionally good English translations of the Greek-language poems
of the great C. P. Cavafy. I always
enjoy reading them: sensual, sardonic, jumping unexpectedly from Classical to Hellenistic
to Byzantine times, always with an eye on the present. My celebratory poem ends with an expression
that was applied to Sappho. Our
illustration shows Cavafy in middle age; for a lovely line drawing, and more
about the poet, see this link: http://thetownhall.org/images/events/thumbnails/pen.hockney.cavafy1_200x0.jpg Poets: C. P. Cavafy
Cavafy!
Half your melancholy,
your desire, would sink a trireme.
And if I never hear again
of langorous young limbs in sordid beds, it
will be soon enough.
But who else travelled
so lovingly, so limpidly, through time?
No man sings
like the Egyptian singer.
