Analysis of On Board Ship

Constantine P. Cavafy 1863 (Alexandria) – 1933 (Alexandria)



It's like him, of course,
this little pencil portrait.
Hurriedly sketched, on the ship's deck,
the afternoon magical,
the Ionian Sea around us.
It's like him. But I remember him as better looking.
He was almost pathologically sensitive,
and this highlighted his expression.
He appears to me better looking
now that my soul brings him back, out of Time.
Out Of Time. All these things are very old
the sketch, the ship, the afternoon.


Scheme ABCDEFGHFIJK
Poetic Form
Metre 11111 1101010 10011011 001100 011011 11111010111010 1110100100 01101010 101111010 1111111111 1111111101 0101001
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 429
Words 76
Sentences 9
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 12
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 339
Words per stanza (avg) 74
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

23 sec read
134

Constantine P. Cavafy

Constantine P. Cavafy was a Greek poet who lived in Alexandria and worked as a journalist and civil servant. He published 154 poems; dozens more remained incomplete or in sketch form. His most important poetry was written after his fortieth birthday. more…

All Constantine P. Cavafy poems | Constantine P. Cavafy Books

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