Analysis of Of the Jews (50 A.D.)
Constantine P. Cavafy 1863 (Alexandria) – 1933 (Alexandria)
Painter and poet, runner and discus-thrower,
beautiful as Endymion: Ianthis, son of Antony.
From a family on friendly terms with the Synagogue.
"My most valuable days are those
when I give up the pursuit of sensuous beauty,
when I desert the elegant and severe cult of Hellenism,
with its over-riding devotion
to perfectly shaped, corruptible white limbs,
and become the man I would want to remain forever:
son of the Jews, the holy Jews."
A most fervent declaration on his part: "...to remain forever
a son of the Jews, the holy Jews."
But he did not remain anything of the kind.
The Hedonism and Art of Alexandria
kept him as their dedicated son.
Scheme | ABX XBXCXAD AD XXC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 100101001010 10011111100 1010011011010 11100111 1111001110010 1110010000111100 111010010 11001010011 00101111101010 11010101 0110010111101010 011010101 11110110101 01000110100 111110001 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 645 |
Words | 118 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 7, 2, 3 |
Lines Amount | 15 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 127 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 28 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 27, 2023
- 34 sec read
- 113 Views
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"Of the Jews (50 A.D.)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/7200/of-the-jews-%2850-a.d.%29>.
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