Come, O King of the Lacedaimonians
Constantine P. Cavafy 1863 (Alexandria) – 1933 (Alexandria)
Kratisiklia didn't deign to allow
the people to see her weeping and grieving:
she walked in dignity and in silence.
Her calm face betrayed nothing
of her sorrow and her agony.
But even so, for a moment she couldn't hold back:
before she went aboard the detestable ship for Alexandria
she took her son to Poseidon's temple,
and once they were alone
she embraced him tenderly and kissed him
(he was "in great distress," says Plutarch, "badly shaken").
But her strong character struggled through;
regaining her poise, the magnificent woman
said to Kleomenis: "Come, O King of the Lacedaimonians,
when we go outside
let no one see us weeping
or behaving in any way unworthy of Sparta.
At least this is still in our power;
what lies ahead is in the hands of the gods."
And she boarded the ship, going toward whatever lay "in the
hands of the gods."
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 46 sec read
- 109 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | XABAXXCXXXDXDBXACXE CE |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 845 |
Words | 155 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 19, 2 |
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"Come, O King of the Lacedaimonians" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/7125/come,-o-king-of-the-lacedaimonians>.
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