Since Nine— by C. P. Cavafy
Since Nine—
C. P. Cavafy
Translated by Daniel MendelsohnHalf past twelve. The time has quickly passed
since nine o’clock when I first turned up the lamp
and sat down here. I’ve been sitting without reading,
without speaking. With whom should I speak,
so utterly alone within this house?
The apparition of my youthful body,
since nine o’clock when I first turned up the lamp,
has come and found me and reminded me
of shuttered perfumed rooms
and of pleasure spent—what wanton pleasure!
And it also brought before my eyes
streets made unrecognizable by time,
bustling city centres that are no more
and theatres and cafés that existed long ago.
The apparition of my youthful body
came and also brought me cause for pain:
deaths in the family; separations;
the feelings of my loved ones, the feelings of
those long dead which I so little valued.
Half past twelve. How the time has passed.
Half past twelve. How the years have passed.
MARGINALIA
Philip Glass on repeat again. Staring into space, looking inside my tiny, tiny life.
ABOUT C. P. CAVAFY
C. P. Cavafy is widely considered the most distinguished Greek poet of the 20th century. He was born in Alexandria, Egypt, where his Greek parents had settled in the mid-1850s. Cavafy’s father was an importer-exporter whose business responsibilities frequently led him to the port city of Liverpool, England. Cavafy’s father died in 1870, and the business he left in Alexandria proved insufficiently profitable for Cavafy’s mother and eight siblings. The family consequently moved… (more)
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ENDNOTES
- Read more translations by Daniel Mendelsohn • Discover more poems in English • Or view more translated poems
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maria
Hola alguien me podria ayudar a mandarme un comentario de texto del poema de kavafis ” desde las nueve”. Lo necesito. gracias