Analysis of Alexander Jannaios And Alexandra

Constantine P. Cavafy 1863 (Alexandria) – 1933 (Alexandria)



Full of their success, thoroughly satisfied,
King Alexander Jannaios
and his wife Queen Alexandra
move through the streets of Jerusalem
with musicians in the lead
and every kind of pomp and circumstance.
The work begun by the great Judas Maccabaios
and his four celebrated brothers
has now been concluded brilliantly,
work relentlessly carried on
among so many obstacles and dangers.
Nothing unseemly remains now.
All subservience to the haughty monarchs
of Antioch is over. Clearly
King Alexander Jannaios
and his wife Queen Alexandra
are equal to the Selefkids in every way.
Good Jews, pure Jews, devoted Jews above all.
But, as circumstances require,
also skilled in speaking Greek,
even on familiar terms with Greeks and Hellenized monarchs—
as equals, though, let that be understood.
The work begun by the great Judas Maccabaios
and his four celebrated brothers
has indeed been concluded brilliantly,
concluded in the most striking way.


Scheme aBCdebBBfgbhbfBCijklbmBBfi
Poetic Form
Metre 1110110010 10101 0111010 110110100 1010001 0100111010 0101101101 01110010 111010100 10100101 01110100010 10010011 1010010101 11011010 10101 0111010 11010101001 11110101011 1110010 1010101 1010101110101 110111101 0101101101 01110010 1011010100 010001101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 926
Words 150
Sentences 9
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 26
Lines Amount 26
Letters per line (avg) 30
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 774
Words per stanza (avg) 148
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

45 sec read
123

Constantine P. Cavafy

Constantine P. Cavafy was a Greek poet who lived in Alexandria and worked as a journalist and civil servant. He published 154 poems; dozens more remained incomplete or in sketch form. His most important poetry was written after his fortieth birthday. more…

All Constantine P. Cavafy poems | Constantine P. Cavafy Books

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