The City You said: "I'll go to some other land, I'll go to some other sea. There's bound to be another city that's better by far. My every effort has been ill-fated from the start; my heart-like something dead-lies buried away; How long will my mind endure this slow decay? Wherever I look, wherever I cast my eyes, I see all round me the black rubble of my life where I've spent so many ruined and wasted years." You'll find no new places, you won't find other shores. The city will follow you. The streets in which you pace will be the same, you'll haunt the same familiar places, and inside those same houses you'll grow old. You'll always end up in this city. Don't bother to hope for a ship, a route, to take you somewhere else; they don't exist. Just as you've destroyed your life, here in this small corner, so you've wasted it through all the world. [ 1894 ; 1910] Ithaca As you set out on the way to Ithaca hope that the road is a long one, filled with adventures, filled with discoveries. The Laestrygonians and the Cyclopes, Poseidon in his anger: do not fear them, you won't find such things on your way so long as your thoughts remain lofty, and a choice emotion touches your spirit and your body. The Laestrygonians and the Cyclopes, savage Poseidon; you won't encounter them unless you stow them away inside your soul, unless your soul sets them up before you. Hope that the road is a long one. Many may the summer mornings be when-with what pleasure, with what joy- you first put in to harbors new to your eyes; may you stop at Phoenician trading posts and there acquire the finest wares: mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony, and heady perfumes of every kind: as many heady perfumes as you can. Many Egyptian cities may you visit that you may learn, and go on learning, from their sages. Always in your mind keep Ithaca. To arrive there is your destiny. But do not hurry your trip in any way. Better that it last for many years; that you drop anchor at the island an old man, rich with all you've gotten on the way, not expecting Ithaca to make you rich. Ithaca gave you the beautiful journey; without her you wouldn't have set upon the road. But now she has nothing left to give you. And if you find her poor, Ithaca didn't deceive you. As wise as you will have become, with so much experience, you will understand, by then, these Ithacas; what they mean. [ 1910 ; 1911] Hidden (1908) From all I did and from all I said they shouldn't try to find out who I was. An obstacle was there and it distorted my actions and the way I lived my life. An obstacle was there and it stopped me on many occasions when I was going to speak. The most unnoticed of my actions and the most covert of all my writings: from these alone will they come to know me. But perhaps it's not worth squandering so much care and trouble on puzzling me out. Afterwards-in some more perfect society- someone else who's fashioned like me will surely appear and be free to do as he pleases. Excerpted from C. P. Cavafy: Collected Poems by Constantine Cavafy All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
