Synopses & Reviews
WINNER OF THE HAROLD MORTON LANDON TRANSLATION AWARD FROM THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS
The spellbinding verse of one of the most distinctive poetic voices of the twentieth century
Although the Greek poet Constantine Cavafy died in obscurity, today he is regarded as one of the most original of twentieth-century poets. Whether conjuring moments from Alexandrias ancient past, lyrically evoking homosexual trysts, or painting exquisite miniatures of everyday life, his poems exude a striking inventiveness and staggering beauty, qualities that are preserved here in Avi Sharons sensitive translations.
Review
One of the greatest poets of our time.
E. M. Forster
Ever since I was first introduced to his poetry . . . Cavafy has remained an influence on my writing.
W. H. Auden
Synopsis
The spellbinding verse of one of the most distinctive poetic voices of the twentieth century
C. P. Cavafy is one of the most singular and poignant voices of twentieth-century European poetry, conjuring a magical interior world through lyrical evocations of remembered passions, imagined monologues and dramatic retellings of his native Alexandria's ancient past. Figures from antiquity speak with telling interruptions from the author in such poems as 'Anna Comnena' and 'You did not understand', while precise moments of history are seen with a sense of foreboding, as in 'Ides of March', 'The God Abandoning Antony' and 'Nero's Deadline'. And in poems that draw on his own life and surroundings, Cavafy recalls illicit trysts or glimpses of beautiful young men in 'One Night', 'I have gazed so much' and 'The Cafe Entrance', and creates exquisite miniatures of everyday life in 'An Old Man' and 'Of the Shop'. Winner of the prestigious Harold Morton Landon Translation Award 2009.
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Synopsis
C. P. Cavafy is one of the most singular and poignant voices of twentieth-century European poetry, conjuring a magical interior world through lyrical evocations of remembered passions, imagined monologues and dramatic retellings of his native Alexandria's ancient past. Figures from antiquity speak with telling interruptions from the author in such poems as 'Anna Comnena' and 'You did not understand', while precise moments of history are seen with a sense of foreboding, as in 'Ides of March', 'The God Abandoning Antony' and 'Nero's Deadline'. And in poems that draw on his own life and surroundings, Cavafy recalls illicit trysts or glimpses of beautiful young men in 'One Night', 'I have gazed so much' and 'The Caf Entrance', and creates exquisite miniatures of everyday life in 'An Old Man' and 'Of the Shop'.
Winner of the prestigious Harold Morton Landon Translation Award 2009
About the Author
Constantine Cavafy (18631933) was born in Alexandria, Egypt, to Greek parents. He worked as a journalist and civil servant and only late in life began to find a receptive readership for his poems. A volume of his collected poetry was not published until after his death. Avi Sharon has taught classics and the humanities in New York, Boston, and Athens and has published translations in such journals as Partisan Review, Arion, and Dialogos.