Analysis of If Actually Dead
Constantine P. Cavafy 1863 (Alexandria) – 1933 (Alexandria)
"Where did the Sage withdraw to, where did he disappear?
After his many miracles,
the renown of his teaching
which spread to so many countries,
he suddenly hid himself and nobody knew for certain
what happened to him
(nor did anybody ever see his grave).
Some reported that he died at Ephesus.
But Damis does not record that in his memoir.
Damis says nothing about the death of Apollonios.
Others said that he disappeared at Lindos.
Or maybe the story is true
about his assumption in Crete,
at the ancient sanctuary of Diktynna.
But then again we have that miraculous,
that supernatural apparition of his
before a young student at Tyana.
Maybe the time has not yet come for him to return
and show himself to the world again;
or maybe, transfigured, he moves among us
unrecognized—. But he will come again
as he was, teaching the ways of truth; and then of course
he will bring back the worship of our gods
and our elegant Hellenic rites."
These were the musings of one of the few pagans,
one of the very few still left,
as he sat in his shabby room just after reading
Philostratos' On Apollonios of Tyana.
But even he—a trivial and cowardly man—
played the Christian in public and went to church.
It was the time when Justin, known as the elder,
reigned in total piety,
and Alexandria, a godly city,
detested pitiful idolators.
Scheme | XABXCXXAXAAXXCDXCXEDEXXX AXBCXXXFFA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110101111101 10110100 0011110 11111010 1100101011110 11011 11100010111 11011111 1111011011 1110010111 101110111 11001011 01101001 101010011 11011110100 1010001011 01011011 1001111111101 010110101 110111011 010111101 1111001110111 11110101101 0101000101 10010111011 11010111 1110110111010 11111 1101010001001 10100100111 110111011010 1010100 0010001010 0101001 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,309 |
Words | 241 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 24, 10 |
Lines Amount | 34 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 526 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 119 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:12 min read
- 95 Views
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"If Actually Dead" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/7156/if-actually-dead>.
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