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The Selected Poems of Cavafy

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( 649 ratings, 96 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Selected Poems of Cavafy is a collection that showcases C. P. Cavafy's profound and evocative poetry. The work reflects themes of history, nostalgia, and existential contemplation, offering a unique perspective on Greek and universal settings. Cavafy's imagery and language capture intimate moments of personal and cultural significance, invoking both personal longing and collective introspection.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this collection if you are drawn to poetry that intricately explores themes of history, desire, and existential reflection. C. P. Cavafy's work is celebrated for its emotional depth and insightful portrayal of human experiences, offering a timeless perspective that resonates across cultural boundaries.

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C P Cavafy is one of the most singular and poignant voices of twentieth-century European poetry, conjuring a magical interior world through lyrical evocations of remembered passions, imagined monologues and dramatic retellings of his native Alexandria's ancient past. This title includes selected poems of Cavafy.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

C. P. Cavafy is one of the most singular and poignant voices of twentieth-century European poetry, conjuring a magical interior world through lyrical evocations of remembered passions, imagined monologues, and dramatic retellings of his native Alexandria's ancient past.

Figures from antiquity speak with telling interruptions from the author in such poems as Anna Comnena and You did not understand, while precise moments of history are seen with a sense of foreboding, as in Ides of March, The God Abandoning Antony, and Nero's Deadline.

In poems that draw on his own life and surroundings, Cavafy recalls illicit trysts or glimpses of beautiful young men in One Night, I have gazed so much, and The Cafe Entrance, and creates exquisite miniatures of everyday life in An Old Man and Of the Shop.

The Selected Poems of Cavafy was the winner of the prestigious Harold Morton Landon Translation Award in 2009.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The Selected Poems of Cavafy is widely acclaimed, celebrated for its profound influence on modern poetry. Esteemed literary figures like E. M. Forster and W. H. Auden have praised Cavafy as one of the greatest poets, noting the significant impact his work has had on their own writing.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780141185613

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 27 March 2008

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Penguin Classics

Contributors:

  • Edited by Avi Sharon
  • Translated by Avi Sharon

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 15.0mm

Width: 130.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 192g

Pages: 256

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.

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