Selected Poems by C.P. Cavafy (Princeton Legacy Library) - Softcover

Cavafy, C. P.; Keeley, Edmund; Sherrard, Philip

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0691013071 ISBN 13: 9780691013077

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2019

Synopsis

C.P. Cavafy (1863-1933) is now considered by many to be the most original and influential Greek poet of this century. The qualities of his poetry that were unfashionable during his lifetime are the very ones that make his work endure: his sparing use of metaphor; his evocation of spoken rhythms and colloquialisms; his use of epigrammatic and dramatic modes; his aesthetic perfectionism; his frank treatment of homosexual themes; his brilliantly alive sense of history; and his commitment to Hellenism, coupled with an astute cynicism about politics.

The translations in Selected Poems are completely new. Realizing that Cavafy's language is closer to the spoken idiom than that of other leading Greek poets of his time, and that earlier translations have failed to capture the immediate, colloquial qualities of Cavafy's voice, Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard have rendered his most significant and characteristic poems in a style and rhythm as natural and apt in English as the poet's is in Greek.

Originally published in 1972.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

About this title

Review

aOne of the greatest poets of our time.a
aE. M. Forster
a Ever since I was first introduced to his poetry . . . Cavafy has remained an influence on my writing.a
aW. H. Auden

One of the greatest poets of our time.
E. M. Forster
Ever since I was first introduced to his poetry . . . Cavafy has remained an influence on my writing.
W. H. Auden

?One of the greatest poets of our time.?
?E. M. Forster

? Ever since I was first introduced to his poetry . . . Cavafy has remained an influence on my writing.?
?W. H. Auden

About the Author

Constantine P. Cavafy was born on 29 April 1863 in Alexandria, Egypt, to Greek parents. He lived in Liverpool and Constantinople as well as Alexandria. He worked as a journalist and as a civil servant, publishing his early poetry in broadsheet form to show to his close friends. His style was very different to most contemporary Greek poetry and his poems were largely unappreciated until the 1920s and his reputation really grew posthumously. He died on 29 April 1933, his 70th birthday. Avi Sharon is a professor of Classics and the Humanities and has taught in New York, Boston, and Athens, Greece. He is active as a translator of ancient and modern Greek, Italian, and Hebrew verse and has published his work in magazines such as Arion, Partisan Review, Dialogos and International Quarterly.

Edition details

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 0691013071
• ISBN 13: 9780691013077
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English