Konstandinos Kawafis słynne cytaty
„gdy szczęście przychodzi,
zazwyczaj niesie radość mniejszą niż ta, której
czekano.”
Źródło: Gdy strażnik ujrzał światło, 1900
Konstandinos Kawafis: Cytaty po angielsku
“Its councils are full of Legislators
no charlatan can fool.”
The First Step http://www.cavafy.com/poems/content.asp?id=145&cat=1
Collected Poems (1992)
Kontekst: Just to be on the first step
should make you happy and proud.
To have come this far is no small achievement:
what you have done is a glorious thing.
Even this first step
is a long way above the ordinary world.
To stand on this step
you must be in your own right
a member of the city of ideas.
And it is a hard, unusual thing
to be enrolled as a citizen of that city.
Its councils are full of Legislators
no charlatan can fool.
“The frivolous can call me frivolous.
I’ve always been most punctilious about
important things.”
A Byzantine Nobleman in Exile Composing Verses http://www.cavafy.com/poems/content.asp?id=16&cat=1
Collected Poems (1992)
Kontekst: The frivolous can call me frivolous.
I’ve always been most punctilious about
important things. And I insist
that no one knows better than I do
the Holy Fathers, or the Scriptures, or the Canons of the Councils.
“And, for me, the whole of you has been transformed into feeling.”
" In the Same Space http://cavafis.compupress.gr/kave_134.htm" (1929)
Kontekst: p>I created you while I was happy, while I was sad,
with so many incidents, so many details.And, for me, the whole of you has been transformed into feeling.</p
The God Abandons Antony http://www.cavafy.com/poems/content.asp?id=12&cat=1 (1911).
Variant translations:
Like one who’s long prepared, like someone brave,
as befits a man who’s been blessed with a city like this,
go without faltering toward the window
and listen with deep emotion, but not
with the entreaties and the whining of a coward,
to the sounds — a final entertainment —
to the exquisite instruments of that initiate crew,
and bid farewell to her, to Alexandria, whom you are losing.
As translated by Daniel Mendelsohn (2009).
Don't mourn your luck that's failing now,
work gone wrong, your plans
all proving deceptive — don't mourn them uselessly:
as one long prepared, and full of courage,
say goodbye to her, to Alexandria who is leaving.
Unknown translator http://cavafis.compupress.gr/kave_20.htm
Collected Poems (1992)
Kontekst: Don’t mourn your luck that’s failing now,
work gone wrong, your plans
all proving deceptive — don’t mourn them uselessly.
As one long prepared, and graced with courage,
say goodbye to her, the Alexandria that is leaving.
Above all, don’t fool yourself, don’t say
it was a dream, your ears deceived you:
don’t degrade yourself with empty hopes like these.
“Speak not of guilt, speak not of responsibility.”
The Regiment of the Senses http://www.cavafy.com/poems/content.asp?id=296&cat=5 as translated by Manuel Savidis
Kontekst: Speak not of guilt, speak not of responsibility. When the Regiment of the Senses parades by, with music, and with banners; when the senses shiver and shudder, it is only a fool and and an irreverent person that will keep his distance, who will not embrace the good cause, marching towards the conquest of pleasures and passions.
All of morality’s laws – poorly understood and applied – are nil and cannot stand even for a moment, when the Regiment of the Senses parades by, with music, and with banners.
"Candles" [Κεριά], as translated by Manolis, in Constantine P. Cavafy: Poems (2008) edited by George Amabile
A Great Procession of Priests and Laymen http://www.cavafy.com/poems/content.asp?id=87&cat=1
Collected Poems (1992)
“If you are one of the truly elect,
be careful how you attain your eminence.”
Theodotos http://www.cavafy.com/poems/content.asp?id=105&cat=1
Collected Poems (1992)
To Call Up the Shades http://www.cavafy.com/poems/content.asp?id=17&cat=1
Collected Poems (1992)
" Body, Remember... http://cavafis.compupress.gr/kave_45.htm" (1918)
“The Rest I Will Tell to Those Down to Hades” http://www.cavafy.com/poems/content.asp?id=173&cat=4
Collected Poems (1992)
Nero’s Deadline http://www.cavafy.com/poems/content.asp?id=53&cat=1
Collected Poems (1992)
“From my most unnoticed actions,
my most veiled writing —
from these alone will I be understood.”
Hidden Things
Collected Poems (1992)
Before Time Altered Them http://www.cavafy.com/poems/content.asp?id=123&cat=1
Collected Poems (1992)
Κατόπι — στὴν τελειοτέρα κοινωνία —
κανένας ἄλλος καμωμένος σὰν ἐμένα
βέβαια θὰ φανεῖ κ’ ἐλεύθερα θὰ κάμει.
Hidden Things
Collected Poems (1992)
Julian in Nicomedia
Collected Poems (1992)
King Claudius http://www.cavafy.com/poems/content.asp?id=163&cat=4 (inspired by the story of Hamlet by William Shakespeare)
Collected Poems (1992)
Nero’s Deadline
Collected Poems (1992)
Źródło: To Have Taken The Trouble (1930), l. 18
The Intervention of the Gods http://www.cavafy.com/poems/content.asp?id=235&cat=4
Poems by C. P. Cavafy (2003)
“From all I did and all I said
let no one try to find out who I was.”
Hidden Things http://www.cavafy.com/poems/content.asp?id=161&cat=4
Collected Poems (1992)
When They Come Alive http://www.cavafy.com/poems/content.asp?id=114&cat=1
Collected Poems (1992)
Second Odyssey http://www.cavafy.com/poems/content.asp?id=329&cat=4, as translated by Walter Kaiser
Collected Poems (1992)
Longings http://www.cavafy.com/poems/content.asp?id=45&cat=1
Collected Poems (1992)
As Much As You Can http://www.cavafy.com/poems/content.asp?id=113&cat=1
Collected Poems (1992)
" Ithaka http://cavafis.compupress.gr/kave_17.htm", l. 1 (1911)
Monotony http://www.cavafy.com/poems/content.asp?id=96&cat=1
Collected Poems (1992)
