GREEK POEM H POLIS by K P CAVAFY READ BY ELLi LAMBETi

Cavafy's poem H POLIS read by ELLi LAMBETi -

The City

You said, "I will go to another land, I will go to another sea.
Another city will be found, better than this.
Every effort of mine is condemned by fate;
and my heart is -- like a corpse -- buried.
How long in this wasteland will my mind remain.
Wherever I turn my eyes, wherever I may look
I see the black ruins of my life here,
where I spent so many years, and ruined and wasted."

New lands you will not find, you will not find other seas.
The city will follow you. You will roam the same
streets. And you will age in the same neighborhoods;
in these same houses you will grow gray.
Always you will arrive in this city. To another land -- do not hope --
there is no ship for you, there is no road.
As you have ruined your life here
in this little corner, you have destroyed it in the whole world.

Constantine P. Cavafy (1910)




Konstantinos Petrou Kavafis (1863-1933) is one of the better known Greek poets of the 20th century. Born of Greek parents in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1863, he was their ninth and last child. His only known formal education was a brief enrollment in the Hermis Lyceum, a commercial school in Alexandria. Appointed clerk in the Ministry of Public Works in Alexandria in 1892, he held this position until his retirement in 1922. He died in Alexandria in 1933.
Almost all of Kavafis' work was in Greek; yet, his poetry remained unrecognized in Greece until after the publication of his first anthology in 1935. He is known for his prosaic use of metaphors, his briliant use of historical imagery, and his aesthetic perfectionism. These attributes, amongst others, have assure him of an enduring place in the literary pantheon of the Western World.

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• poem
• greek
• K
• P
• Cavafis
• lambeti

[Tebie2]

Ένα από τα αγαπημένα μου ποιήματα,η Πόλις συμβολίζει την ζωή μαςπου μας ακολουθεί πάντου και που δεν πρόκειται ποτέ να μας αφήσει.

[Tebie2]

Σήμερα οι περισσότεροι άνθρωποι έχουμε τάσεις φυγής,δυσκολευόμαστε να αντιμετωπίσουμε τα προβλήματά μας και πιστεύουμε πως με την φυγη θα τα ξεφορτωθουμε,δεν ξέρουμε όμως πως η πόλις θα μας ακολουθεί...

[7511540]

απολογισμός ζωής.. συντρίμμια

[madmanmikey]

We were made to read this poem in a New Testament Greek class back in college. The teacher wanted us to see how much the language had changed after 2000 years. While I can't remember more than ten words of Greek, I remember this poem (or rather its English translation).

Poems like this, poets like Cavafy, how just how well language can be used. He tools the thoughts and words the way the Amish tool oak. This is simply beautiful!

[satrapeia76]

τα λογια του Καβαφη πονανε σαν χαστουκια... αλλα ποση αληθεια περιεχουν!

[geodemetri]

Beautiful, one of Cavafy's best poems. it is a pity he is not alive today as he would certainly have won the Nobel Prize for his amazing poetry.

[MixalisEvripidi]

Episis den leei oti i poli den bori na ala3i. Nea ktiria boroun na dimiourgi8oun kai na antikatastisoun ta palia. O yixikos mas kosmos bori na ala3i otan exoume to 8aros na ton antikrisoume. 8elei 8arros kai kopo, ala bori na ala3ei...

[KerverosMargaritiou]

5*****

[sazji]

poly mou aresei auto to poihma. sthn arxh mou fanhke poly apaisiodo3o alla gia mena twra ekfrazei thn alh8eia oto den mporoume na 3efygoume thn pragmatikothta mas allazontas mono to e3wteriko. Den eipe kaneis oti h polh mesa mas den exei kai tis wraies ths synoikies. :)

[Annie0854]

Συνταρακτικό! Ευχαριστώ!

[kartson24]

Ψήφος!

[tasost78]

ενα ποιημα τοσο δραματικο που συγκρινεται μονο με τις αρχαιες τραγωδιες