Before Time Altered Them

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



They were full of sadness at their parting.
That wasn't what they themselves wanted: it was circumstances.
The need to earn a living forced one of them
to go far away—New York or Canada.
The love they felt wasn't, of course, what it once had been;
the attraction between them had gradually diminished,
the attraction had diminished a great deal.
But to be separated, that wasn't what they themselves wanted.
It was circumstances. Or maybe Fate
appeared as an artist and parted them now,
before their feeling died out completely, before Time altered them:
the one seeming to remain for the other always what he was,
the exquisite young man of twenty-four.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

35 sec read
110

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCDEFGHIJCKL
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 652
Words 114
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 13

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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