The Collected Poems of C. P. Cavafy: A New Translation

The second line from Constantine Cavafy's "Ithaka," as translated by Aliki Barnstone, perfectly expresses the feeling one has when reading her fine new translation of Cavafy's collected poems; one wants the journey to last, to be slow, thoughtful, recursive, if possible, neverending. In Cavafy's poetic imagination, the history of thousands of years emerges in perfectly realized vignettes, with ironies teased out of time into timeless applicability. Reading Cavafy is the pleasure of a lifetime.I first encountered Cavafy among Robert Lowell's Imitations, published in 1961, and quickly sought out Keeley and Sherrard's Six Poets of Modern Greece--coincidentally, published the same year--and subsequently, when it became available, their joint translation of Cavafy's selected poems) to read more of Cavafy. Later, I found Rae Dalven's translation, as well. As Aliki Barnstone generously affirms in her acknowledgments, all these poets have done fine work in making available to the English-only reader as much of Cavafy's poetry as can be carried over into English. None has done this better than Ms. Barnstone.The clarity and grace of Aliki Barnstone's translations, and her sensitivity to degrees of emphasis and (I choose to believe) subtleties of tone seem to me to contribute to the great success of these translations. Her versions of the more familiar poems ("When the Watchman Saw the Light," "Waiting for the Barbarians," "The Gods Abandon Antony" and others) are distinctive and yet comforting in their reassurance that we have experienced well before, may experience more deeply now. Ms. Barnstone, a fine poet in her own right, brings poetic authority (and a family of supportive poets, as well)to this work, and all readers must be grateful.This volume, arranged chronologically, offers very useful historical and contextual notes for many of the poems, as well as a thoughtful but not overbearing introduction. I would recommend this volume to anyone who cares for modern poetry, but especially for the indispensable poems of Cavafy.

I love Cavafy's poems, particularly the historical ones. This new translation looks to be the definite modern one and works exceptionally well for me. The scholarly notes are an excellent reference and help me enjoy these poems even more. One of the few "modern" (at the time) poets that captured me and my reading fancy for ancient history, these poems are delightful ones to do back to time and again (particularly after reading a good ancient history book) and tease out ever more new meanings for me.

The poet is new to me.His work encompasses Greek history as well as general life philosophy, which was fascinating.I have not read much, if any, erotic homosexual poetry and I found those poems exceptionally interesting and beautifully written,as well.

Until about ten years ago, I had not heard of C. P. Cavafy (b. 1863, d. 1933). I have since learned, and discovered for myself, that he was one of the preeminent poets of the twentieth century. He also was one of the most distinctive poets of the century - vaguely modern (especially the understated irony), but seemingly more from the world of the ancient Greeks and early Christians about whom he wrote so much. I have been enriched by his poetry, as I predict any reader of this recent translation of Cavafy's collected poems will also be.Cafavy came from a family of Greek merchants, originally from Constantinople. He was born in Alexandria, Egypt, lived between the ages of nine and sixteen in London, from where he moved with family to Constantinople, and in 1885 he returned to Alexandria, which was his base for the rest of his life. By then his family had lost much of its wealth, and Cavafy spent most of his adulthood working as a clerk for the Ministry of Public Works. He was somewhat retiring, although those who knew him said he was gracious and charming, as well as being a great conversationalist able to gossip about historical figures from the distant past. One long-time friend was E. M. Forster. Cafavy wrote only a few poems a year, in Greek, which he distributed to friends and relatives via pamphlets or broadsheets that he had privately printed. Over time, however, his reputation as a unique poetic voice began to spread. In the English-speaking world, his initial advocate was Forster, and later proponents included T.S. Eliot, W. H. Auden, D. H. Lawrence, and Ezra Pound.This volume of collected poems (about 175 that were published during Cavafy's life and another 20 unpublished ones) is at least the fourth English translation of Cavafy's poetry. There are, nonetheless, several things that set it apart. First, the unpublished poems are presented mixed in with the published ones, rather than as a separate collection in the back of the volume. Second, the poems are presented by year. Third, it includes a fine, short Foreword by Gerald Stern. And fourth, there is an instructive three-page biographical note about Cavafy at the end of the volume.But what about the translations by Aliki Barnstone? I am sure they are competent. They certainly are distinctive, memorable poems. (W. H. Auden said that every translation of Cavafy, no matter by whom, "is immediately recognizable as a poem by Cavafy; nobody else could possibly have written it.") However, I prefer the poems as translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard, in "C. P. Cavafy: Collected Poems" (rev'd ed.), published by Princeton University Press. To me, the Keeley and Sherrard versions are slightly more poetic (perhaps they are a tad less literal), and the paperback Keeley and Sherrard is currently available from Amazon for four dollars less than the paperback Barnstone. But you really won't go amiss with either, and if you love great poetry, you should get to know C. P. Cavafy.

A delicately written collection of poems

just what i wanted

Cavafy and Ithaka, what more can I say? Fantastic.