On Board Ship

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



It's like him, of course,
this little pencil portrait.
Hurriedly sketched, on the ship's deck,
the afternoon magical,
the Ionian Sea around us.
It's like him. But I remember him as better looking.
He was almost pathologically sensitive,
and this highlighted his expression.
He appears to me better looking
now that my soul brings him back, out of Time.
Out Of Time. All these things are very old
the sketch, the ship, the afternoon.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

23 sec read
134

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCDEFGHFIJK
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 429
Words 76
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 12

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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