Analysis of In The Month Athyr

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



I can just read the inscription on this ancient stone.
“Lo[r]d Jesus Christ.” I make out a “So[u]l.”
“In the mon[th] of Athyr’ ‘Lefkio[s] went to sleep.”
Where his age is mentioned—“lived to the age of”—
the Kappa Zeta shows that he went to sleep a young man.
In the corroded part I see “Hi[m]…Alexandrian.”
Then there are three badly mutilated lines—
though I can pick out a few words, like “our tea[r]s,”
“grief,”
then “tears” again, and “sorrow to [us] his [f]riends.”
I think Lefkios must have been greatly loved.
In the month of Athyr Lefkios went to sleep.


Scheme ABCDEAFFGFHC
Poetic Form
Metre 1111001011101 110111101 001111111 11111011011 01010111111011 0001011111 1111101001 111110111101 1 11010101111 111111101 001111111
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 607
Words 109
Sentences 10
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 12
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 36
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 426
Words per stanza (avg) 100
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

32 sec read
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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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