Analysis of Philhellene
Constantine P. Cavafy 1863 (Alexandria) – 1933 (Alexandria)
Make sure the engraving is done skillfully.
The expression serious, majestic.
The diadem preferably somewhat narrow:
I don't like that broad kind the Parthians wear.
The inscription, as usual, in Greek:
nothing excessive, nothing pompous—
we don't want the proconsul to take it the wrong way:
he's always nosing things out and reporting back to Rome—
but of course giving me due honor.
Something very special on the other side:
some discus-thrower, young, good-looking.
Above all I urge you to see to it
(Sithaspis, for God's sake don't let them forget)
that after "King" and "Savior,"
they engrave "Philhellene" in elegant characters.
Now don't try to be clever
with your "where are the Greeks?" and "what things Greek
here behind Zagros, out beyond Phraata?"
Since so many others more barbarian than ourselves
choose to inscribe it, we will inscribe it too.
And besides, don't forget that sometimes
sophists do come to us from Syria,
and versifiers, and other triflers of that kind.
So we are not, I think, un-Greek.
Scheme | ABCDEFGHIJKLMINIEJOPQRSE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11001011100 0010100010 01010001110 111111011 0010110001 100101010 1110010111011 1110110010111 111101110 10101010101 110101110 0111111111 111111101 1101010 10110100100 1111110 1111010111 10111011 111010101001001 11011110111 001101101 111111100 010101111 11111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,007 |
Words | 174 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 24 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 796 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 169 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 53 sec read
- 83 Views
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