Analysis of Theodotus
Constantine P. Cavafy 1863 (Alexandria) – 1933 (Alexandria)
If you are truly one of the select few,
watch how you acquire your power.
However much you are glorified, however much
the cities in Italy and in Thessaly
acclaim your achievements,
however many decrees in your honor
your admirers may have issued in Rome,
neither your joy nor your triumph will last,
nor will you feel like a superior -- what do you mean superior? -- man
when in Alexandria, Theodotus brings you,
upon a bloodstained tray,
the head of the wretched Pompey.
And do not rely on the fact that in your life,
circumscribed, regulated, and prosaic,
there are no such spectacular and terrifying things.
Perhaps at this very hour, Theodotus is entering
the well-appointed house of one of your neighbors --
invisible, bodiless --
carrying such a hideous head.
Scheme | ABXXCBXXXAXX XXXXXCX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110110011 111010110 1011110101 0100100001 011010 1010010110 1010111001 1011111011 1111100100111101001 100100111 01011 01101010 011011011011 011000010 1111010001001 0111101011100 010101111110 01001 100101001 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 756 |
Words | 134 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 12, 7 |
Lines Amount | 19 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 304 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 66 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 24, 2023
- 40 sec read
- 126 Views
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"Theodotus" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/7261/theodotus>.
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