I'm intrigued by those midline spaced caesurae, Rebecca. Are they in
the Greek originals? What did that person find wrong with thte earlier
English translations?
These are interesting, but I suspect one needs to see the whole book to
get a full sense of how they _feel_.
Doug
On 13-Jan-05, at 11:07 AM, Rebecca Seiferle wrote:
> Someone, who has previously been able to only read Cavafy in the Greek
> finding
> the English translations somehow impassable, sent me a couple of
> translations
> by Stratis Haviaras from his new translation of Cavafy's _The Canon_.
> I'm not
> sure about getting the book here, though it may be more readily
> available in the
> UK, and will be out here in the near future. So a sample from the
> Haviaras
> translation.
>
> best,
>
> Rebecca
>
>
> He Vows
>
> Every so often he vows to lead a better life.
> But when night comes again bearing its own counsel,
> and its own allowances and its assurances,
> when night comes again with its own energies,
> he falls back, beaten down, back to the deadly joy.
>
>
>
> For Them To Be Summoned
>
>
> One candle is enough. Its gentle light
>
> is more fitting, it will be more seemly
>
> when the Shadows come, the Shadows of love.
>
>
> One candle is enough. Tonight the room
>
> must not have too much light. In deep reverie
>
> and evocation, and in that subtle light,
>
> here in the grip of deep reverie, I will conjure visions
>
> so that the Shadows may come, the shadows of love.
>
>
>
>
>
> t
> rans. Stratis Haviaras
>
>
Douglas Barbour
Department of English
University of Alberta
Edmonton Alberta T6G 2E5 Canada
(780) 436 3320
http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/dbhome.htm
The poet is ecstatic, having dreamt of this visit for weeks.
He takes Erato’s face, dribbling and wild, between his hands
and kisses her gently as if she were a runaway teenager.
Diana Hartog
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