The Bandaged Shoulder
Constantine P. Cavafy 1863 (Alexandria) – 1933 (Alexandria)
He said that he had hurt himself on a wall or that he had fallen.
But there was probably another reason
for the wounded and bandaged shoulder.
With a somewhat abrupt movement,
to bring down from a shelf some
photographs that he wanted to see closely,
the bandage was untied and a little blood ran.
I bandaged the shoulder again, and while bandaging it
I was somewhat slow; because it did not hurt,
and I liked to look at the blood. That
blood was a part of my love.
When he had left, I found in front of the chair,
a bloody rag, from the bandages,
a rag that looked in belonged in garbage;
which I brought up to my lips,
and which I held there for a long time --
the blood of love on my lips.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 24, 2023
- 42 sec read
- 104 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AAX XXXX XXXX XXXBXB |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 684 |
Words | 140 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 4, 4, 6 |
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"The Bandaged Shoulder" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/7235/the-bandaged-shoulder>.
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