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Selected Prose Works
"A timely and significant supplement to C. P. Cavafy's poetic canon, the Selected Prose Works, eloquently translated and meticulously annotated by Peter Jeffreys, allows readers yet another creative engagement with the greatest Greek writer since antiquity. Marked by a wide and intriguing range of interests, these writings offer a rich trove for general readers and scholars alike, who from now on will find it difficult to discuss Cavafy's poetry without reference to his prose."
---Vassilis Lambropoulos, C. P. Cavafy Professor of Modern Greek, University of Michigan
"Peter Jeffreys gives us a rare gift---access to Constantine Cavafy's prose work. Through his intelligent translation, these texts, which range from literary criticism to personal notes, from essays on the Greek language to the Parthenon marbles, offer unexpected entry into the mind of one of the twentieth century's greatest literary figures. They suggest new ways to think about not only Cavafy's remarkable poetry but also the man himself. An indispensable companion for all who love Cavafy's work."
---Gregory Jusdanis, The Ohio State University
"Once you've felt his influence, you won't need telling that Cavafy is unique in his distinctive voice, his quiet humor, and his unassertive culture."
---Frank Kermode, Formerly Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College, London, and King Edward VII Professor of English Literature, University of Cambridge
Constantine Cavafy (1863–1933) is arguably the most important modern poet of Greece and Greek culture. Long a resident of Egypt and then Constantinople, Cavafy in his poems and prose works tended to focus on Greco-Roman antiquity, on Greece's national identity, and on personal and mythological images and themes including his ethnicity and sexual identity. He wrote some 150 poems, plus a few works in collaboration with his brother John.
His poetical works have been much translated and discussed, but until now, very little consideration has been given to his prose works, in part because many remained untranslated from the original Greek. This book collects Cavafy's more interesting prose pieces and translates those that originally appeared in Greek.
Of the forty pieces included, only thirteen have previously appeared in print, and of those thirteen only a few were in English. The pieces include essays, "prose poems," short stories, self-assessments, and considerations of other poets, including John Keats. This significant new collection offers a different perspective on the well-known Cavafy.
Peter Jeffreys, Assistant Professor of English at Suffolk University in Boston, received a Doctorate in English Literature from the University of Toronto. He is the author of Eastern Questions: Hellenism and Orientalism in the Writings of E.M. Forster and C.P. Cavafy and the editor of The Forster-Cavafy Letters: Friends at a Slight Angle. He is currently working on a bio-critical study of C. P. Cavafy and the decadent tradition.
Cover image copyright © David Levine
---Vassilis Lambropoulos, C. P. Cavafy Professor of Modern Greek, University of Michigan
"Peter Jeffreys gives us a rare gift---access to Constantine Cavafy's prose work. Through his intelligent translation, these texts, which range from literary criticism to personal notes, from essays on the Greek language to the Parthenon marbles, offer unexpected entry into the mind of one of the twentieth century's greatest literary figures. They suggest new ways to think about not only Cavafy's remarkable poetry but also the man himself. An indispensable companion for all who love Cavafy's work."
---Gregory Jusdanis, The Ohio State University
"Once you've felt his influence, you won't need telling that Cavafy is unique in his distinctive voice, his quiet humor, and his unassertive culture."
---Frank Kermode, Formerly Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College, London, and King Edward VII Professor of English Literature, University of Cambridge
Constantine Cavafy (1863–1933) is arguably the most important modern poet of Greece and Greek culture. Long a resident of Egypt and then Constantinople, Cavafy in his poems and prose works tended to focus on Greco-Roman antiquity, on Greece's national identity, and on personal and mythological images and themes including his ethnicity and sexual identity. He wrote some 150 poems, plus a few works in collaboration with his brother John.
His poetical works have been much translated and discussed, but until now, very little consideration has been given to his prose works, in part because many remained untranslated from the original Greek. This book collects Cavafy's more interesting prose pieces and translates those that originally appeared in Greek.
Of the forty pieces included, only thirteen have previously appeared in print, and of those thirteen only a few were in English. The pieces include essays, "prose poems," short stories, self-assessments, and considerations of other poets, including John Keats. This significant new collection offers a different perspective on the well-known Cavafy.
Peter Jeffreys, Assistant Professor of English at Suffolk University in Boston, received a Doctorate in English Literature from the University of Toronto. He is the author of Eastern Questions: Hellenism and Orientalism in the Writings of E.M. Forster and C.P. Cavafy and the editor of The Forster-Cavafy Letters: Friends at a Slight Angle. He is currently working on a bio-critical study of C. P. Cavafy and the decadent tradition.
Cover image copyright © David Levine
184 pages, Paperback
First published October 22, 2010
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About the author
Constantinos P. Cavafy
178 books546 followersConstantine P. Cavafy (also known as Konstantin or Konstantinos Petrou Kavafis, or Kavaphes; Greek Κ.Π. Καβάφης) was a major Greek poet who worked as a journalist and civil servant. His consciously individual style earned him a place among the most important figures not only in Greek poetry, but in Western poetry as well. He has been called a skeptic and a neo-pagan. In his poetry he examines critically some aspects of Christianity, patriotism, and homosexuality, though he was not always comfortable with his role as a nonconformist. He published 154 poems; dozens more remained incomplete or in sketch form. His most important poetry was written after his fortieth birthday.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 4, 2021
So, yes, I can't imagine anyone turning to this book unless they were already bitten by Cavafy, and this is certainly minor stuff compared to the poetry. But I am bitten (in fact, I even co-edited a book of essays on Cavafy's poems), so I read this happily. There might not be one piece that is wonderful on its own, that reveals anything earth shattering about the poet, but when you put all of these together, you see his reading, and his willingness to look at himself, even at his homosexuality, at his artistic influences (even the decadents), then this all becomes pretty useful.
Cavafy's poetry has become one of the markers of modernism and always seems ahead of his time, even of ours. But these prose pieces show someone working through the past, through the influences of the end of the 19th century. It is all very conventional. What is most interesting is that out of that melange came the poems that continue to change things.
Cavafy's poetry has become one of the markers of modernism and always seems ahead of his time, even of ours. But these prose pieces show someone working through the past, through the influences of the end of the 19th century. It is all very conventional. What is most interesting is that out of that melange came the poems that continue to change things.
November 13, 2019
¡Pensé tantas cosas mientras leía la poesía de Constantino Cavafis (1863-1933)! Pero desafortunadamente me tendré que conformar con los fragmentos de mis ideas, ya que no tomé nota de casi nada. Desde el momento en que cerré el libro a esta fecha, aquello que el pensamiento clarificaba se volvió a llenar de maleza. Y aquellas ideas que me decían algo nuevo de mí, si las pudiera recordar me hablarían de alguien remoto –yo mismo– por un momento expuesto ante la luz. Los poemas de Cavafis toman la forma de supuestos fragmentos antiguos, tablillas, manuscritos, anotaciones… en fin, restos de voces amorosas que han tenido la suficiente fuerza de despertar y alcanzar a decir algo, eso que llevaban siglos queriendo decir, sólo que el peso de los archivos lo aplastaba. Estas voces antiguas se han despertado para volver a hablar, sólo que el mundo es otro, sus lenguas han desaparecido, y de la belleza que cantan no quedan ni restos. En realidad, sí quedan restos. Es lo único que queda. De la belleza que un día se erigió sobre esta tierra quedan testimonios, pero son muy antiguos, son anteriores a la mortificación del catolicismo. De ahí que sea el paganismo lo que florece en estos versos. Cavafis se me figura –enormes disculpas por no saber nada de su vida– un un erudito que escarba en las antiguas bibliotecas para descubrir algo de vida en los pergaminos. La juventud turgente vislumbrada de pronto entre los caracteres antiguos. Naturalmente, el aparente historiador es, en realidad, un poeta, así que se dedica a enterrar su propio ardor entre esas antiguas vidas inventadas. Porque los personajes de estas historias (poemas que son también minificciones) son vidas anónimas, hechas para simpatizar con un mundo desaparecido. Son la evocación de una era que debió de existir, aun cuando no lo reflexionemos a menudo, en que agonizaban los dioses Olimpo, extinguidos por el ardor del cristianismo. Un ardor que curiosamente apagaba las inclemencias de la carne. Que esas voces que se afirman en estos poemas tienen ecos de Cavafis, no me queda duda. Incluso, en ocasiones es el mismo poeta el que manifiesta hablar. Claro, las experiencias vitales del autor se confunden con los viejos legajos. Pero no puedo asegurar es que esa visión pagana, celebración del cuerpo y el sexo, hayan estado presentes en la vida del poeta. Vuelvo a decir que ignoro todo de su vida. Se me escapa. De hecho, intenté no buscarlo, no mirarlo a los ojos en medio de las calles de estas antiguas ciudades –Sidón, Nicomedia, Alejandría–. Sin embargo, seguí su ejemplo: sentarse a mirar. Ese joven, página 269, parte superior del libro, sentado en el rincón de una biblioteca, se pone a leer nerviosamente algunos libros. No lee nada, sólo se ríe. Por su carne maravillosa ha pasado el amor. Mirar subrepticiamente, cerrar el libro y colocarlo en el librero. Es lo que le corresponde al reseñista, y dejar los datos bibliográficos a continuación en caso de que alguien quiera seguir los consejos de vivir la vida conforme a la humeante poesía de este autor.
C.P. Cavafis. Poesía completa, ed., trad., intr. y notas de Pedro Bádenas de la Peña. Córdoba, España, Almuzar-Fundación Biblioteca de Literatura Universal, 2017. (Biblioteca de Literatura Universal)
C.P. Cavafis. Poesía completa, ed., trad., intr. y notas de Pedro Bádenas de la Peña. Córdoba, España, Almuzar-Fundación Biblioteca de Literatura Universal, 2017. (Biblioteca de Literatura Universal)
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August 22, 2011According to one of Constantine Cavafy’s friends—a claim twice cited in this noticeably slim volume—Cavafy “abjured three activities: giving lectures, granting interviews, and writing prose.” Though he does indeed seem to have kept scrupulously clear of the first two, his archived papers, plus pieces rescued from various newspapers and periodicals, show that he intermittently—and, it must be said, unwisely—broke his own third rule. Read more...
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews