Analysis of Days Of 1896
Constantine P. Cavafy 1863 (Alexandria) – 1933 (Alexandria)
He became completely degraded. His erotic tendency,
condemned and strictly forbidden
(but innate for all that) , was the cause of it:
society was totally prudish.
He gradually lost what little money he had,
then his social standing, then his reputation.
Nearly thirty, he had never worked a full year—
at least not at a legitimate job.
Sometimes he earned enough to get by
acting the go-between in deals considered shameful.
He ended up the type likely to compromise you thoroughly
if you were seen around with him often.
But this isn't the whole story—that would not be fair.
The memory of his beauty deserves better.
There is another angle; seen from that
he appears attractive, appears
a simple, genuine child of love,
without hesitation putting,
above his honor and reputation,
the pure sensuality of his pure flesh.
Above his reputation? But society,
prudish and stupid, had it wrong.
Scheme | ABXXXBXXXXAB XXXXXXBX AX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1010100101010100 01010100 10111110111 0100110010 1100011101011 11101011010 101011101011 1111001001 011101111 1001010101010 110101101101100 1101011110 1110011011111 010011100110 1101010111 10101001 010100111 0101010 011100010 01101111 01101010100 10010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 882 |
Words | 150 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 12, 8, 2 |
Lines Amount | 22 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 237 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 50 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 45 sec read
- 151 Views
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