Analysis of The Battle of Magnesia
Constantine P. Cavafy 1863 (Alexandria) – 1933 (Alexandria)
He's lost his old fire, his courage.
Now his tired, almost decrepit body
will be his first concern. And the rest of his life he'll spend
without worrying. So Philip says, anyway.
Tonight he's playing a game with dice;
he's in a mood to amuse himself.
Cover the table with roses. What if Antiochos
was defeated at Magnesia? They say
the bulk of his brilliant army was totally crushed.
Maybe they're stretching it a bit; it can't all be true.
Let's hope so anyway. Because though enemies, they do belong to our race.
But one "let's hope so" is enough. Perhaps even too much.
Of course Philip won't put off the festivities.
However much his life has worn him out,
one blessing remains: his memory is still intact.
He recalls the extent of their mourning in Syria, the kind of sorrow they felt,
when Macedonia, their motherland, was smashed to pieces.
Let the banquet begin. Slaves! The music, the lights!
Scheme | ABCDEFEDGHIJKLMNOP |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111110110 1110101010 11110100111111 01100110110 011100111 100110101 10010110111 1010101011 0111101011001 1011010111111 1111001110011011101 11111101011011 111011100100 101111111 1100111001101 11001111001000111011 1010011011110 101001101001 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 892 |
Words | 162 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 18 |
Lines Amount | 18 |
Letters per line (avg) | 39 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 699 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 160 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 51 sec read
- 127 Views
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