C. P. Cavafy: Collected Poems - Bilingual Edition

C. P. Cavafy (1863-1933) lived in relative obscurity in Alexandria, and a collected edition of his poems was not published until after his death. Now, however, he is regarded as the most important figure in twentieth-century Greek poetry, and his poems are considered among the most powerful in modern European literature. This revised bilingual edition of Collected Poems offers the reader the original Greek texts facing what are now recognized as the standard English translations of Cavafy's poetry. It is this translation that best captures the poet's mixture of formal and idiomatic language and that preserves the immediacy of his increasingly frank treatment of homosexual eroticism, his brilliant re-creation of history, and his astute political ironies. This new bilingual edition also features the notes of editor George Savidis and a new foreword by Robert Pinsky.

Table of Contents:
Foreword to the Bilingual Edition xv Translators' Note to the 1992 Revised Edition xxiii "PUBLISHED POEMS" Before 1911 WALLS (1896) 3 AN OLD MAN (1897) 5 THE HORSES OF ACHILLES (1897) 7 PRAYER (1898) 9 THE FUNERAL OF SARPEDON (1898) 11 CANDLES (1899) 15 THE FIRST STEP (1899) 17 THE SOULS OF OLD MEN (1901) 19 CHE FECE ... IL GRAN RIFIUTO (1901) 21 INTERRUPTION (1901) 23 THE WINDOWS (1903) 25 THERMOPYLAE (1903) 27 UNFAITHFULNESS (1904) 29 WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS (1904) 31 VOICES (1904) 35 LONGINGS (1904) 37 TROJANS (1905) 39 KING DIMITRIOS (1906) 41 THE RETINUE OF DIONYSOS (1907) 43 MONOTONY (1908) 45 THE FOOTSTEPS (1909) 47 THAT'S THE MAN (1909) 49 THE CITY (1910) 51 THE SATRAPY (1910) 53 1911 THE IDES OF MARCH 55 THINGS ENDED 57 SCULPTOR OF TYANA 59 THE GOD ABANDONS ANTONY 61 IONIC 63 THE GLORY OF THE PTOLEMIES 65 ITHAKA 67 DANGEROUS THOUGHTS 71 1912 PHILHELLENE 73 HERODIS ATTIKOS 75 ALEXANDRIAN KINGS 77 COME BACK 79 IN CHURCH 81 1913 VERY SELDOM 83 AS MUCH AS YOU CAN 85 FOR THE SHOP 87 I WENT 89 1914 TOMB OF THE GRAMMARIAN LYSIAS 91 TOMB OF EVRION 93 CHANDELIER 95 LONG AGO 97 1915 BUT THE WISE PERCEIVE THINGS ABOUT TO HAPPEN 99 THEODOTOS 101 AT THE CAFE DOOR 103 HE SWEARS 105 ONE NIGHT 107 MORNING SEA 109 PICTURED 111 OROPHERNIS 113 THE BATTLE OF MAGNESIA 117 MANUEL KOMNINOS 119 THE DISPLEASURE OF SELEFKIDIS 121 1916 WHEN THEY COME ALIVE 123 IN THE STREET 125 BEFORE THE STATUE OF ENDYMION 127 1917 IN A TOWN OF OSROINI 129 PASSING THROUGH 131 FOR AMMONIS, WHO DIED AT 29, IN 610 133 ONE OF THEIR GODS 135 IN THE EVENING 137 TO SENSUAL PLEASURE 139 GRAY 141 TOMB OF IASIS 143 IN THE MONTH OF ATHYR 145 I'VE LOOKED SO MUCH... 147 TOMB OF IGNATIOS 149 DAYS OF 1903 151 THE WINDOW OF THE TOBACCO SHOP 153 1918 KAISARION 155 BODY, REMEMBER... 157 TOMB OF LANIS 159 UNDERSTANDING 161 NERO'S DEADLINE 163 ENVOYS FROM ALEXANDRIA 165 ARISTOVOULOS 167 IN THE HARBOR-TOWN 171 AIMILIANOS MONAI, ALEXANDRIAN, A.D. 628-655 173 SINCE NINE O'CLOCK 175 OUTSIDE THE HOUSE 177 THE NEXT TABLE 179 1919 THE AFTERNOON SUN 181 COMES TO REST 183 OF THE JEWS (A.D. 50) 185 IMENOS 187 ON BOARD SHIP 189 OF DIMITRIOS SOTIR (162-150 B.C.) 191 1920 IF ACTUALLY DEAD 195 YOUNG MEN OF SIDON (A.D. 400) 197 TO CALL UP THE SHADES 199 DAREIOS 201 ANNA KOMNINA 205 1921 A BYZANTINE NOBLEMAN IN EXILE COMPOSING VERSES 207 THEIR BEGINNING 209 THE FAVOR OF ALEXANDER VALAS 211 MELANCHOLY OF JASON KLEANDER, POET IN KOMMAGINI, A.D. 595 213 DIMARATOS 215 I'VE BROUGHT TO ART 219 FROM THE SCHOOL OF THE RENOWNED PHILOSOPHER 221 CRAFTSMAN OF WINE BOWLS 225 1922 THOSE WHO FOUGHT FOR THE ACHAIAN LEAGUE 227 TO ANTIOCHOS EPIPHANIS 229 IN AN OLD BOOK 231 1923 IN DESPAIR 233 JULIAN SEEING CONTEMPT 235 EPITAPH OF ANTIOCHOS, KING OF KOMMAGINI 237 THEATRE OF SIDON (A.D. 400) 239 1924 JULIAN IN NICOMEDIA 241 BEFORE TIME ALTERED THEM 243 HE HAD COME THERE TO READ 245 IN ALEXANDRIA, 31 B.C. 247 JOHN KANTAKUZINOS TRIUMPHS 249 1925 TEMETHOS, ANTIOCHIAN, A.D. 400 251 OF COLORED GLASS 253 THE TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR OF HIS LIFE 255 ON AN ITALIAN SHORE 257 IN THE BORING VILLAGE 259 APOLLONIOS OF TYANA IN RHODES 261 1926 KLEITOS' ILLNESS 263 IN A TOWNSHIP OF ASIA MINOR 265 PRIEST AT THE SERAPEION 267 IN THE TAVERNAS 269 A GREAT PROCESSION OF PRIESTS AND LAYMEN 271 SOPHIST LEAVING SYRIA 273 JULIAN AND THE ANTIOCHIANS 275 1927 ANNA DALASSINI 277 DAYS OF 1896 279 TWO YOUNG MEN, 23 TO 24 YEARS OLD 281 GREEK FROM ANCIENT TIMES 283 DAYS OF 1901 285 1928 YOU DIDN'T UNDERSTAND 287 A YOUNG POET IN HIS TWENTY-FOURTH YEAR 289 IN SPARTA 291 PICTURE OF A 23-YEAR-OLD PAINTED BY HIS FRIEND OF THE SAME AGE, AN AMATEUR 293 IN A LARGE GREEK COLONY, 200 B.C. 295 A PRINCE FROM WESTERN LIBYA 299 KIMON, SON OF LEARCHOS, 22, STUDENT OF GREEK LITERATURE (IN KYRINI) 301 ON THE MARCH TO SINOPI 303 DAYS OF 1909,'10, AND'11 305 1929 MYRIS: ALEXANDRIA, A.D. 340 307 ALEXANDER JANNAIOS AND ALEXANDRA 311 LOVELY WHITE FLOWERS 313 COME, O KING OF THE LACEDAIMONIANS 315 IN THE SAME SPACE 317 1930 THE MIRROR IN THE FRONT HALL 319 HE ASKED ABOUT THE QUALITY 321 TO HAVE TAKEN THE TROUBLE 323 1931 FOLLOWING THE RECIPE OF ANCIENT GRECO-SYRIAN MAGICIANS 327 IN THE YEAR 200 B.C. 329 1932 DAYS OF 1908 333 "UNPUBLISHED POEMS" JULIAN AT THE MYSTERIES (1896) 337 KING CLAUDIUS (1899) 339 WHEN THE WATCHMAN SAW THE LIGHT (1900) 345 GROWING IN SPIRIT (1903) 347 SEPTEMBER, 1903 (1904) 349 DECEMBER, 1903 (1904) 351 ON THE STAIRS (1904) 353 AT THE THEATRE (1904) 355 POSEIDONIANS (1906) 357 ANTONY'S ENDING (1907) 359 HIDDEN THINGS (1908) 361 ON HEARING OF LOVE (1911) 363 "THE REST I WILL TELL TO THOSE DOWN IN HADES" (1913) 365 THE PHOTOGRAPH (1913) 367 GOING BACK HOME FROM GREECE (1914) 369 EXILES (1914) 371 THEOPHILOS PALAIOLOGOS (1914) 373 AND I LOUNGED AND LAY ON THEIR BEDS (1915) 375 HALF AN HOUR (1917) 377 SIMEON (1917) 379 THE BANDAGED SHOULDER (1919) 381 ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF ANTIOCH (1932-3) 383 Editor's Introduction to the Notes 387 Appendix 393 Notes to the Poems 395 Biographical Note 453 Alphabetical Index of Titles 459