Analysis of From The School Of The Renowned Philosopher
Constantine P. Cavafy 1863 (Alexandria) – 1933 (Alexandria)
For two years he studied with Ammonios Sakkas,
but he was bored by both philosophy and Sakkas.
Then he went into politics.
But he gave that up. That Prefect was an idiot,
and those around him, somber-faced officious nitwits:
their Greek—poor fools—absolutely barbaric.
After that he became
vaguely curious about the Church: to be baptized
and pass as a Christian. But he soon
changed his mind: it would certainly have caused a row
with his parents, ostentatious pagans,
and—horrible thought—
they would have cut off at once
their extremely generous allowance.
But he had to do something. He began to haunt
the corrupt houses of Alexandria,
every secret den of debauchery.
In this fortune favored him:
he’d been given an extremely handsome figure.
And he enjoyed the divine gift.
His looks would last
at least another ten years. And after that?
Maybe he’ll go back to Sakkas.
Or if the old man has died meanwhile,
he’ll go to another philosopher or sophist:
there’s always someone suitable around.
Scheme | AA ABAX XXXXAXAA XXX XXX XXAXBX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111110111 111111010001 1110110 111111111100 0101110111 1111010010 101101 1010001011101 011010111 111111001101 11100101 01001 1111111 1010100010 111111010111 0011010100 10010110100 0110101 111010101010 01010011 1111 11010110101 1011111 11011111 111010010011 11110001 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 995 |
Words | 169 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 4, 8, 3, 3, 6 |
Lines Amount | 26 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 133 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 28 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 50 sec read
- 45 Views
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"From The School Of The Renowned Philosopher" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/7142/from-the-school-of-the-renowned-philosopher>.
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