C. P. Cavafy Collected Poems

Description

The collected and translated verse of the modern Greek poet C.P. Cavafy, whose remarkable treatment of ancient myths, dramatic forms and erotic experience influenced the likes of W.H. Auden and E.M. Forster. The Greek poet C. P. Cavafy (1863-1933) lived most of his life in Alexandria, where he was content to circulate his work only among a select group of readers; but since his death he has come to be recognised and widely enjoyed as one of the great poets of the twentieth century in any language celebrated for his elegant formal structures, for his brilliant reanimation of myth and for his subtle treatment of erotic experience. Lawrence Durrell has written of this masterly translation- 'Cavafy has now at last fallen upon translators who can do justice to his wry melodious poems, glinting with insight as if from veins of mica'.

Constantine P. Cavafy was born on 29 April 1863 in Alexandria, Egypt, to Greek parents. He lived in Liverpool and Constantinople as well as Alexandria. He worked as a journalist and as a civil servant, publishing his early poetry in broadsheet form to show to his close friends. His style was very different to most contemporary Greek poetry and his poems were largely unappreciated until the 1920s and his reputation really grew posthumously. He died on 29 April 1933, his 70th birthday.

One of the greatest poets of our time -- E. M. Forster Ever since I was first introduced to his poetry... Cavafy has remained an influence on my writing -- W. H. Auden