Analysis of Darius
Constantine P. Cavafy 1863 (Alexandria) – 1933 (Alexandria)
The poet Phernazis is composing
the important part of his epic poem.
How Darius, son of Hystaspes,
assumed the kingdom of the Persians. (From him
is descended our glorious king
Mithridates, Dionysus and Eupator). But here
philosophy is needed; he must analyze
the sentiments that Darius must have had:
maybe arrogance and drunkenness; but no -- rather
like an understanding of the vanity of grandeurs.
The poet contemplates the matter deeply.
But he is interrupted by his servant who enters
running, and announces the portendous news.
The war with the Romans has begun.
The bulk of our army has crossed the borders.
The poet is speechless. What a disaster!
No time now for our glorious king
Mithridates, Dionysus and Eupator,
to occupy himself with greek poems.
In the midst of a war -- imagine, greek poems.
Phernazis is impatient. Misfortune!
Just when he was positive that with "Darius"
he would distinguish himself, and shut the mouths
of his critics, the envious ones, for good.
What a delay, what a delay to his plans.
And if it were only a delay, it would still be all right.
But it yet remains to be seen if we have any security
at Amisus. It is not a strongly fortified city.
The Romans are the most horrible enemies.
Can we hold against them
we Cappadocians? It is possible at all?
It is possible to pit ourselves against the legions?
Mighty Gods, protectors of Asia, help us.--
But in all his turmoil and trouble,
the poetic idea too comes and goes persistently--
the most probable, surely, is arrogance and drunkenness;
Darius must have felt arrogance and drunkenness.
Scheme | AXBXACBXDBE BBFB DACBB FBBXB XEEBXXBB XEBB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01011010 00101111010 1010111 01010101011 1010101001 1010111 01001101110 01001010111 1010001001110 110101010011 0101001010 1110101110110 100010011 011010101 011101011010 01011010010 1111101001 10101 110011110 001101010110 11010010 111110011010 11010010101 11100100111 10011001111 011010001111111 11101111111100100 111110101010 010101100100 111011 111110011 111001100101010 10101011011 10111010 001001011010100 011001011000100 0101111000100 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,552 |
Words | 275 |
Sentences | 26 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 11, 4, 5, 5, 8, 4 |
Lines Amount | 37 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 209 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 45 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:22 min read
- 75 Views
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