Analysis of Passing Through

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



The things he timidly imagined as a schoolboy
are openly revealed to him now. And he walks the streets,
stays out all night, gets involved. And as is right (for our kind of art)
his blood -fresh and hot
offers itself to pleasure.
His body is overcome
by forbidden erotic ecstasy; and his young limbs
give in to it completely.
 In this way a simple boy
becomes something worth our looking at, for a moment
he too passes through the exalted World of Poetry,
the young sensualist with blood fresh and hot.


Scheme ABCDEFGHAIHD
Poetic Form
Metre 011100010101 11000111101101 11111010111110111 11101 1001110 110110 11000101000111 1011010 0110101 01101101011010 11101001011100 01111101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 500
Words 94
Sentences 6
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 12
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 397
Words per stanza (avg) 92
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

28 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…

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