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.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 27, 2023

34 sec read
112

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABX XBXCXAD AD XXC
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 645
Words 118
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 3, 7, 2, 3

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…

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