The Glory of the Ptolemies

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



I'm Lagides, king -through my power and wealth
complete master of the art of pleasure.
There's no Macedonian, no barbarian, equal to me
or even approaching me. The son of Selefkos
is really a joke with his cheap lechery.
But if you're looking for other things, note this too:
my city's the greatest preceptor, queen of the Greek world,
genius of all knowledge, of every art.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

21 sec read
102

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCDBEFG
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 375
Words 68
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 8

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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