CAVAFY BY DIMITRIS PAPAIOANNOU

2013—the 150th anniversary of the poet's birth

13 poems by
C.P. CAVAFY
song cycle by
LENA PLATONOS
stage visuals by
DIMITRIS PAPAIOANNOU
sung by
YIANNIS PALAMIDAS

• about cavafy
• 13 poems
• artists' notes
• bios & credits
• links & downloads
• contact
• ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ

THE CONCERT
watch the concert given at the Pallas Theatre in Athens in December 2010



00:45—Monotony
03:05—Candles
05:11—Long Ago
07:37—The Windows
09:35—The Window of the Tobacco Shop
12:11—Walls
15:29—The City
19:05—Prayer
21:37—Morning Sea
27:21—Since Nine O’Clock
31:21—Waiting for the Barbarians
35:45—Longings
38:56—The God Abandons Antony

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01—MONOTONY
stage visual for the CAVAFY 13 concert

One monotonous day follows another equally monotonous.

MONOTONY
One monotonous day follows another
equally monotonous. The same things
will happen again, and then will happen again,
the same moments will come and go.
A month passes by and brings another month.
Easy to guess what lies ahead:
all of yesterday’s boredom.
And tomorrow ends up no longer like tomorrow.
ΜΟΝΟΤΟΝΙΑ
Τὴν μιὰ μονότονην ἡμέραν ἄλλη
μονότονη, ἀπαράλλακτη ἀκολουθεῖ. Θὰ γίνουν
τὰ ἴδια πράγματα, θὰ ξαναγίνουν πάλι—
ἡ ὅμοιες στιγμὲς μᾶς βρίσκουνε καὶ μᾶς ἀφίνουν.
Μῆνας περνᾶ καὶ φέρνει ἄλλον μῆνα.
Αὐτὰ ποὺ ἔρχονται κανεὶς εὔκολα τὰ εἰκάζει·
εἴναι τὰ χθεσινὰ τὰ βαρετὰ ἐκεῖνα.
Καὶ καταντᾶ τὸ αὔριο πιὰ σὰν αὔριο νὰ μὴ μοιάζει.
translated into English by
EDMUND KEELEY & PHILLIP SHERRARD

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02—CANDLES
stage visual for the CAVAFY 13 concert

Days to come stand in front of us like a row of lighted candles…

CANDLES
Days to come stand in front of us
like a row of lighted candles—
golden, warm, and vivid candles.
Days gone by fall behind us,
a gloomy line of snuffed-out candles;
the nearest are smoking still,
cold, melted, and bent.
I don’t want to look at them: their shape saddens me,
and it saddens me to remember their original light.
I look ahead at my lighted candles.
I don’t want to turn for fear of seeing, terrified,
how quickly that dark line gets longer,
how quickly the snuffed-out candles proliferate.
ΚΕΡΙΑ
Τοῦ μέλλοντος ἡ μέρες στέκοντ᾽ ἐμπροστά μας
σὰ μιὰ σειρὰ κεράκια ἀναμένα—
χρυσά, ζεστά, καὶ ζωηρὰ κεράκια.
Ἡ περασμένες μέρες πίσω μένουν,
μιὰ θλιβερὴ γραμμὴ κεριῶν σβυσμένων·
τὰ πιὸ κοντὰ βγάζουν καπνὸν ἀκόμη,
κρύα κεριά, λυωμένα, καὶ κυρτά.
Δὲν θέλω νὰ τὰ βλέπω· μὲ λυπεῖ ἡ μορφή των,
καὶ μὲ λυπεῖ τὸ πρῶτο φῶς των νὰ θυμοῦμαι.
Ἐμπρὸς κυττάζω τ᾽ ἀναμένα μου κεριά.
Δὲν θέλω νὰ γυρίσω νὰ μὴ διῶ καὶ φρίξω
τί γρήγορα ποὺ ἡ σκοτεινὴ γραμμὴ μακραίνει,
τί γρήγορα ποὺ τὰ σβυστὰ κεριὰ πληθαίνουν.
translated into English by
EDMUND KEELEY & PHILLIP SHERRARD

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03—LONG AGO
stage visual for the CAVAFY 13 concert

I’d like to speak of this memory…but it’s so faded now…

LONG AGO
I’d like to speak of this memory…
but it’s so faded now…as though nothing is left—
because it was so long ago, in my early adolescent years.
A skin as though of jasmine…
that August evening—was it August?—
I can still just recall the blue eyes: blue, I think they were…
Ah yes, blue: a sapphire blue.
ΜΑΚΡΥΑ
Θἄθελα αὐτὴν τὴν μνήμη νὰ τὴν πῶ…
Μὰ ἔτσι ἐσβύσθη πιά… σὰν τίποτε δὲν ἀπομένει—
γιατὶ μακρυά, στὰ πρῶτα ἐφηβικά μου χρόνια κεῖται.
Δέρμα σὰν καμωμένο ἀπὸ ἰασεμί…
Ἐκείνη τοῦ Αὐγούστου—Αὔγουστος ἦταν;—ἡ βραδυά…
Μόλις θυμοῦμαι πιὰ τὰ μάτια· ἦσαν, θαρρῶ, μαβιά…
Ἆ ναί, μαβιά· ἕνα σαπφείρινο μαβί.
translated into English by
EDMUND KEELEY & PHILLIP SHERRARD

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04—THE WINDOWS
stage visual for the CAVAFY 13 concert

In these dark rooms where I live out empty days, I circle back and forth trying to find windows.

THE WINDOWS
In these dark rooms where I live out
empty days, I circle back and forth
trying to find windows.
It will be a great relief when a window opens.
But the windows are not to be found—
or at least I cannot find them. And perhaps
it is better that I don’t find them.
Perhaps the light will prove another tyranny.
Who knows what new things it will expose?
ΤΑ ΠΑΡΑΘΥΡΑ
Σ᾽ αὐτὲς τὲς σκοτεινὲς κάμαρες, ποὺ περνῶ
μέρες βαρυές, ἐπάνω κάτω τριγυρνῶ
γιὰ νἄβρω τὰ παράθυρα.—Ὅταν ἀνοίξει
ἕνα παράθυρο θἆναι παρηγορία.—
Μὰ τὰ παράθυρα δὲν βρίσκονται, ἢ δὲν μπορῶ
νὰ τἄβρω. Καὶ καλλίτερα ἴσως νὰ μὴν τὰ βρῶ.
Ἴσως τὸ φῶς θἆναι μιὰ νέα τυραννία.
Ποιὸς ξέρει τί καινούρια πράγματα θὰ δείξει.
translated into English by
EDMUND KEELEY & PHILLIP SHERRARD

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05—THE WINDOW OF THE TOBACCO SHOP
stage visual for the CAVAFY 13 concert

They stood among many others close to a lighted tobacco shop window.
THE WINDOW OF THE TOBACCO SHOP
They stood among many others
close to a lighted tobacco shop window.
Their glances met by chance
and timidly, haltingly expressed
the illicit desire of their bodies.
Then a few uneasy steps along the street
until they smiled, and nodded slightly.
And after that the closed carriage,
the sensitive approach of body to body,
hands linked, lips meeting.
Η ΠΡΟΘΗΚΗ ΤΟΥ ΚΑΠΝΟΠΩΛΕΙΟΥ
Κοντὰ σὲ μιὰ κατάφωτη προθήκη
καπνοπωλείου ἐστέκονταν, ἀνάμεσα σ᾽ ἄλλους πολλούς.
Τυχαίως τὰ βλέμματά των συναντήθηκαν,
καὶ τὴν παράνομην ἐπιθυμία τῆς σαρκός των
ἐξέφρασαν δειλά, διστακτικά.
Ἔπειτα, ὀλίγα βήματα στὸ πεζοδρόμιο ἀνήσυχα—
ὥς ποὺ ἐμειδίασαν, κ᾽ ἔνευσαν ἐλαφρῶς.
Καὶ τότε πιὰ τὸ ἁμάξι τὸ κλεισμένο…
τὸ αἰσθητικὸ πλησίασμα τῶν σωμάτων·
τὰ ἑνωμένα χέρια, τὰ ἑνωμένα χείλη.
translated into English by
EDMUND KEELEY & PHILLIP SHERRARD

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06—WALLS
stage visual for the CAVAFY 13 concert

With no consideration, no pity, no shame, they have built walls around me, thick and high.

WALLS
With no consideration, no pity, no shame,
they have built walls around me, thick and high.
And now I sit here feeling hopeless.
I can’t think of anything else: this fate gnaws at my mind—
because I had so much to do outside.
When they were building the walls, how could I not have noticed!
But I never heard the builders, not a sound.
Imperceptibly they have closed me off from the outside world.
ΤΕΙΧΗ
Χωρὶς περίσκεψιν, χωρὶς λύπην, χωρὶς αἰδὼ
μεγάλα κ᾽ ὑψηλὰ τριγύρω μου ἔκτισαν τείχη.
Καὶ κάθομαι καὶ ἀπελπίζομαι τώρα ἐδῶ.
Ἄλλο δὲν σκέπτομαι: τὸν νοῦν μου τρώγει αὐτὴ ἡ τύχη·
διότι πράγματα πολλὰ ἔξω νὰ κάμω εἶχον.
Ἆ ὅταν ἔκτιζαν τὰ τείχη πῶς νὰ μὴν προσέξω.
Ἀλλὰ δὲν ἄκουσα ποτὲ κρότον κτιστῶν ἢ ἦχον.
Ἀνεπαισθήτως μ᾽ ἔκλεισαν ἀπὸ τὸν κόσμον ἔξω.
translated into English by
EDMUND KEELEY & PHILLIP SHERRARD

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07—THE CITY
stage visual for the CAVAFY 13 concert

You said: “I’ll go to another country, go to another shore, find another city better than this one…"

THE CITY
You said: “I’ll go to another country, go to another shore,
find another city better than this one.
Whatever I try to do is fated to turn out wrong
and my heart lies buried as though it were something dead.
How long can I let my mind moulder in this place?
Wherever I turn, wherever I happen to look,
I see the black ruins of my life, here,
where I’ve spent so many years, wasted them, destroyed them totally.”
You won’t find a new country, won’t find another shore.
This city will always pursue you. You will walk
the same streets, grow old in the same neighbourhoods,
will turn gray in these same houses.
You will always end up in this city. Don’t hope for things elsewhere:
there is no ship for you, there is no road.
As you’ve wasted your life here, in this small corner,
you’ve destroyed it everywhere else in the world.
Η ΠΟΛΙΣ
Εἶπες· «Θὰ πάγω σ᾽ ἄλλη γῆ, θὰ πάγω σ᾽ ἄλλη θάλασσα.
Μιὰ πόλις ἄλλη θὰ βρεθεῖ καλλίτερη ἀπὸ αὐτή.
Κάθε προσπάθεια μου μιὰ καταδίκη εἶναι γραφτή·
κ᾽ εἶν᾽ ἡ καρδιά μου—σὰν νεκρὸς—θαμένη.
Ὁ νοῦς μου ὥς πότε μὲς στὸν μαρασμὸν αὐτὸν θὰ μένει.
Ὅπου τὸ μάτι μου γυρίσω, ὅπου κι ἂν δῶ
ἐρείπια μαῦρα τῆς ζωῆς μου βλέπω έδῶ,
ποὺ τόσα χρόνια πέρασα καὶ ρήμαξα καὶ χάλασα.»
Καινούριους τόπους δὲν θὰ βρεῖς, δὲν θἄβρεις ἄλλες θάλασσες.
Ἡ πόλις θὰ σὲ άκολουθεῖ. Στοὺς δρόμους θὰ γυρνᾶς
τοὺς ἴδιους. Καὶ στὲς γειτονιὲς τὲς ἴδιες θὰ γερνᾶς·
καὶ μὲς στὰ ἴδια σπίτια αὐτὰ θ᾽ ἀσπρίζεις.
Πάντα στὴν πόλι αὐτὴ θὰ φθάνεις. Γιὰ τὰ αλλοῦ—μὴ ελπίζεις—
δὲν ἔχει πλοῖο γιὰ σέ, δὲν ἔχει ὁδό.
Ἔτσι ποὺ τὴ ζωή σου ρήμαξες ἐδῶ
στὴν κώχη τούτη τὴν μικρή, σ᾽ ὅλήν τὴν γῆ τὴν χάλασες.
translated into English by
EDMUND KEELEY & PHILLIP SHERRARD

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08—PRAYER
stage visual for the CAVAFY 13 concert

The sea engulfed a sailor in its depths.


PRAYER
The sea engulfed a sailor in its depths.
Unaware, his mother goes and lights
a tall candle before the ikon of our Lady,
praying for him to come back quickly, for the weather to be good—
her ear cocked always to the wind.
While she prays and supplicates,
the ikon listens, solemn, sad,
knowing the son she waits for never will come back.

ΔΕΗΣΙΣ
Ἡ θάλασσα στὰ βάθη της πῆρ᾽ ἕναν ναύτη.—
Ἡ μάνα του, ἀνήξερη, πιαίνει κι ἀνάφτει
στὴν Παναγία μπροστὰ ἕνα ὑψηλὸ κερὶ
γιὰ νὰ ἐπιστρέψει γρήγορα καὶ νἆν᾽ καλοὶ καιροὶ—
καὶ ὅλο πρὸς τὸν ἄνεμο στήνει τ᾽ αὐτί.
Ἀλλὰ ἐνῶ προσεύχεται καὶ δέεται αὐτή,
ἡ εἰκὼν ἀκούει, σοβαρὴ καὶ λυπημένη,
ξεύροντας πὼς δὲν θἄλθει πιὰ ὁ υἱὸς ποὺ περιμένει.

translated into English by
EDMUND KEELEY & PHILLIP SHERRARD

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09—MORNING SEA
stage visual for the CAVAFY 13 concert

Let me stop here. Let me, too, look at nature awhile.

MORNING SEA
Let me stop here. Let me, too, look at nature awhile.
The brilliant blue of the morning sea, of the cloudless sky,
the yellow shore; all lovely,
all bathed in light.
Let me stand here. And let me pretend I see all this
(I really did see it for a minute when I first stopped)
and not my usual day-dreams here too,
my memories, those images of sensual pleasure.
ΘΑΛΑΣΣΑ ΤΟΥ ΠΡΩΪΟΥ
Ἐδῶ ἂς σταθῶ. Κι ἂς δῶ κ᾽ εγὼ τὴν φύσι λίγο.
Θάλασσας τοῦ πρωϊοῦ κι ἀνέφελου οὐρανοῦ
λαμπρὰ μαβιά, καὶ κίτρινη ὄχθη· ὅλα
ὡραῖα καὶ μεγάλα φωτισμένα.
Ἐδῶ ἂς σταθῶ. Κι ἂς γελασθῶ πὼς βλέπω αὐτὰ
(τὰ εἶδ᾽ ἀλήθεια μιὰ στιγμὴ σὰν πρωτοστάθηκα)·
κι ὄχι κ᾽ ἐδῶ τὲς φαντασίες μου,
τὲς ἀναμνήσεις μου, τὰ ἰνδάλματα τῆς ἡδονῆς.
translated into English by
EDMUND KEELEY & PHILLIP SHERRARD

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10—SINCE NINE O’CLOCK
stage visual for the CAVAFY 13 concert

Half past twelve. Time has gone by quickly since nine o’clock…

SINCE NINE O’CLOCK
Half past twelve. Time has gone by quickly
since nine o’clock when I lit the lamp
and sat down here. I’ve been sitting without reading,
without speaking. Completely alone in the house,
whom could I talk to?
Since nine o’clock when I lit the lamp
the shade of my young body
has come to haunt me, to remind me
of shut scented rooms,
of past sensual pleasure—what daring pleasure.
And it’s also brought back to me
streets now unrecognizable,
bustling night clubs now closed,
theatres and cafés no longer there.
The shade of my young body
also brought back the things that make us sad:
family grief, separations,
the feelings of my own people, feelings
of the dead so little acknowledged.
Half past twelve. How the time has gone by.
Half past twelve. How the years have gone by.
ΑΠ’ ΤΕΣ ΕΝΝΙΑ—
Δώδεκα καὶ μισή. Γρήγορα πέρασεν ἡ ὥρα
ἀπ᾽ τὲς ἐννιὰ ποὺ ἄναψα τὴν λάμπα,
καὶ κάθισα ἐδῶ. Κάθουμουν χωρὶς νὰ διαβάζω,
καὶ χωρὶς νὰ μιλῶ. Μὲ ποιόνα νὰ μιλήσω
κατάμονος μέσα στὸ σπίτι αὐτό.
Τὸ εἴδωλον τοῦ νέου σώματός μου,
ἀπ᾽ τὲς ἐννιὰ ποὺ ἄναψα τὴν λάμπα,
ἦλθε καὶ μὲ ηὗρε καὶ μὲ θύμισε
κλειστὲς κάμαρες ἀρωματισμένες,
καὶ περασμένην ἡδονή—τί τολμηρὴ ἡδονή!
Κ᾽ ἐπίσης μ᾽ ἔφερε στὰ μάτια ἐμπρός,
δρόμους ποὺ τώρα ἔγιναν ἀγνώριστοι,
κέντρα γεμάτα κίνησι ποὺ τέλεψαν,
καὶ θέατρα καὶ καφενεῖα ποὺ ἦσαν μιὰ φορά.
Τὸ εἴδωλον τοῦ νέου σώματός μου
ἦλθε καὶ μ᾽ ἔφερε καὶ τα λυπητερά·
πένθη τῆς οἰκογένειας, χωρισμοί,
αἰσθήματα δικῶν μου, αἰσθήματα
τῶν πεθαμένων τόσο λίγο ἐκτιμηθέντα.
Δώδεκα καὶ μισή. Πῶς πέρασεν ἡ ὥρα.
Δώδεκα καὶ μισή. Πῶς πέρασαν τὰ χρόνια.
translated into English by
EDMUND KEELEY & PHILLIP SHERRARD

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11—WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS
stage visual for the CAVAFY 13 concert

What are we waiting for, assembled in the forum?

WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS
What are we waiting for, assembled in the forum?
The barbarians are due here today.
Why isn’t anything happening in the senate?
Why do the senators sit there without legislating?
Because the barbarians are coming today.
What laws can the senators make now?
Once the barbarians are here, they’ll do the legislating.
Why did our emperor get up so early,
and why is he sitting at the city’s main gate
on his throne, in state, wearing the crown?
Because the barbarians are coming today
and the emperor is waiting to receive their leader.
He has even prepared a scroll to give him,
replete with titles, with imposing names.
Why have our two consuls and praetors come out today
wearing their embroidered, their scarlet togas?
Why have they put on bracelets with so many amethysts,
and rings sparkling with magnificent emeralds?
Why are they carrying elegant canes
beautifully worked in silver and gold?
Because the barbarians are coming today
and things like that dazzle the barbarians.
Why don’t our distinguished orators come forward as usual
to make their speeches, say what they have to say?
Because the barbarians are coming today
and they’re bored by rhetoric and public speaking.
 
Why this sudden restlessness, this confusion?
(How serious people’s faces have become.)
Why are the streets and squares emptying so rapidly,
everyone going home so lost in thought?
Because night has fallen and the barbarians have not come.
And some who have just returned from the border say
there are no barbarians any longer.
And now, what’s going to happen to us without barbarians?
They were, those people, a kind of solution.
ΠΕΡΙΜΕΝΟΝΤΑΣ ΤΟΥΣ ΒΑΡΒΑΡΟΥΣ
Τί περιμένουμε στὴν ἀγορὰ συναθροισμένοι;
Εἶναι οἱ βάρβαροι νὰ φθάσουν σήμερα.
Γιατί μέσα στὴν Σύγκλητο μιὰ τέτοια ἀπραξία;
Τί κάθοντ᾽ οἱ Συγκλητικοὶ καὶ δὲν νομοθετοῦνε;
Γιατὶ οἱ βάρβαροι θὰ φθάσουν σήμερα.
Τί νόμους πιὰ θὰ κάμουν οἱ Συγκλητικοὶ;
Οἱ βάρβαροι σὰν ἔλθουν θὰ νομοθετήσουν.
Γιατί ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ μας τόσο πρωΐ σηκώθη,
καὶ κάθεται στῆς πόλεως τὴν πιὸ μεγάλη πύλη
στὸν θρόνο ἐπάνω, ἐπίσημος, φορῶντας τὴν κορώνα;
Γιατὶ οἱ βάρβαροι θὰ φθάσουν σήμερα.
Κι ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ περιμένει νὰ δεχθεῖ
τὸν ἀρχηγό τους. Μάλιστα ἑτοίμασε
γιὰ νὰ τὸν δώσει μιὰ περγαμηνή. Ἐκεῖ
τὸν ἔγραψε τίτλους πολλοὺς κι ὀνόματα.
Γιατί oἱ δυό μας ὕπατοι κ᾽ οἱ πραίτορες ἐβγῆκαν
σήμερα μὲ τὲς κόκκινες, τὲς κεντημένες τόγες·
γιατί βραχιόλια φόρεσαν μὲ τόσους ἀμεθύστους,
καὶ δαχτυλίδια μὲ λαμπρά, γυαλιστερὰ σμαράγδια·
γιατί νὰ πιάσουν σήμερα πολύτιμα μπαστούνια
μ᾽ ἀσήμια καὶ μαλάματα ἔκτακτα σκαλιγμένα;
Γιατὶ οἱ βάρβαροι θὰ φθάσουν σήμερα·
και τέτοια πράγματα θαμπόνουν τοὺς βαρβάρους.
Γιατί κ᾽ οἱ ἄξιοι ρήτορες δὲν ἔρχονται σὰν πάντα
νὰ βγάλλουνε τοὺς λόγους τους, νὰ ποῦνε τὰ δικά τους;
Γιατὶ οἱ βάρβαροι θὰ φθάσουν σήμερα·
και αὐτοὶ βαρυοῦντ᾽ εὐφράδειες καὶ δημηγορίες.
Γιατί ν᾽ ἀρχίσει μονομιᾶς αὐτὴ ἡ ἀνησυχία
κ᾽ ἡ σύγχυσις. (Τὰ πρόσωπα τί σοβαρὰ ποὺ ἐγίναν).
Γιατὶ ἀδειάζουν γρήγορα οἱ δρόμοι κ᾽ ἡ πλατέες,
κι ὅλοι γυρνοῦν στὰ σπίτια τους πολὺ συλλογισμένοι;
Γιατί ἐνύχτωσε κ᾽ οἱ βάρβαροι δὲν ἦλθαν.
Καὶ μερικοὶ ἔφθασαν ἀπ᾽ τὰ σύνορα,
καὶ εἴπανε πὼς βάρβαροι πιὰ δεν ὑπάρχουν.
Καὶ τώρα τί θὰ γένουμε χωρὶς βαρβάρους.
Οἰ ἄνθρωποι αὐτοί ἦσαν μιὰ κάποια λύσις.
translated into English by
EDMUND KEELEY & PHILLIP SHERRARD

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12—LONGINGS
stage visual for the CAVAFY 13 concert

Like the beautiful bodies of those who died before they had aged…

LONGINGS
Like the beautiful bodies of those who died before they had aged,
sadly shut away in a sumptuous mausoleum,
roses by the head, jasmine at the feet—
so appear the longings that have passed
without being satisfied, not one of them granted
a night of sensual pleasure, or one of its radiant mornings.
ΕΠΙΘΥΜΙΕΣ
Σὰν σώματα ὡραῖα νεκρῶν ποὺ δὲν ἐγέρασαν
καὶ τἄκλεισαν, μὲ δάκρυα, σὲ μαυσωλεῖο λαμπρό,
μὲ ρόδα στὸ κεφάλι καὶ στὰ πόδια γιασεμιὰ—
ἔτσ᾽ ἡ ἐπιθυμίες μοιάζουν ποὺ ἐπέρασαν
χωρὶς νὰ ἐκπληρωθοῦν· χωρὶς ν᾽ ἀξιωθεῖ καμιὰ
τῆς ἡδονῆς μιὰ νύχτα, ἢ ἕνα πρωΐ της φεγγερό.
translated into English by
EDMUND KEELEY & PHILLIP SHERRARD

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13—THE GOD ABANDONS ANTONY
stage visual for the CAVAFY 13 concert

When suddenly, at midnight, you hear an invisible procession going by…

THE GOD ABANDONS ANTONY
When suddenly, at midnight, you hear
an invisible procession going by
with exquisite music, voices,
don’t mourn your luck that’s failing now,
work gone wrong, your plans
all proving deceptive—don’t mourn them uselessly.
As one long prepared, and graced with courage,
say goodbye to her, the Alexandria that is leaving.
Above all, don’t fool yourself, don’t say
it was a dream, your ears deceived you:
don’t degrade yourself with empty hopes like these.
As one long prepared, and graced with courage,
as is right for you who proved worthy of this kind of city,
go firmly to the window
and listen with deep emotion, but not
with the whining, the pleas of a coward;
listen—your final delectation—to the voices,
to the exquisite music of that strange procession,
and say goodbye to her, to the Alexandria that you are losing.
ΑΠΟΛΕΙΠΕΙΝ Ο ΘΕΟΣ ΑΝΤΩΝΙΟΝ
Σὰν ἔξαφνα, ὥρα μεσάνυχτ᾽, άκουσθεῖ
ἀόρατος θίασος νὰ περνᾶ
μὲ μουσικὲς ἐξαίσιες, μὲ φωνὲς—
τὴν τύχη σου ποὺ ἐνδίδει πιά, τὰ ἔργα σου
ποὺ ἀπέτυχαν, τὰ σχέδια τῆς ζωῆς σου
ποὺ βγῆκαν ὅλα πλάνες, μὴ ἀνωφέλετα θρηνήσεις.
Σὰν ἕτοιμος ἀπὸ καιρό, σὰ θαρραλέος,
ἀποχαιρέτα την, τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρεια ποὺ φεύγει.
Πρὸ πάντων νὰ μὴ γελασθεῖς, μὴν πεῖς πὼς ἦταν
ἕνα ὄνειρο, πὼς ἀπατήθηκεν ἡ ἀκοή σου·
μάταιες ἐλπίδες τέτοιες μὴν καταδεχθεῖς.
Σὰν ἕτοιμος ἀπὸ καιρό, σὰ θαρραλέος,
σὰν ποὺ ταιριάζει σε ποὺ ἀξιώθηκες μιὰ τέτοια πόλι,
πλησίασε σταθερὰ πρὸς τὸ παράθυρο,
κι ἄκουσε μὲ συγκίνησιν, άλλ᾽ ὄχι
μὲ τῶν δειλῶν τὰ παρακάλια καὶ παράπονα,
ὡς τελευταία ἀπόλαυσι τοὺς ἤχους,
τὰ ἐξαίσια ὄργανα τοῦ μυστικοῦ θιάσου,
κι ἀποχαιρέτα την, τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρεια ποὺ χάνεις.
translated into English by
EDMUND KEELEY & PHILLIP SHERRARD

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THE STAGE VISUALS
watch the 13 video projections created for the CAVAFY 13 concert together here


 http://cavafy13.com/
00:00—Monotony
02:18—Candles
04:24—Long Ago
06:50—The Windows
08:48—The Window of the Tobacco Shop
11:25—Walls
14:41—The City
18:16—Prayer
20:50—Morning Sea
26:33—Since Nine O’Clock
30:33—Waiting for the Barbarians
34:59—Longings
38:10—The God Abandons Antony

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ΠΗΓΗ http://cavafy13.com/

videos include nudity and sexually explicit material —content ©dimitris papaioannou&lena platonos2010-2015 hasaportfoliotheme bymatt mcinerney