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The Great Yes

Constantine P. Cavafy, Constantine P. Cavafy poetry, Secular or Eclectic, Secular or Eclectic poetry,  poetry, [TRADITION SUB2] poetry,  poetry by Constantine P. Cavafy
(1863 - 1933) Timeline

English version by
Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard

Original Language
Greek

Secular or Eclectic
19th Century

For some people the day comes
when they have to declare the great Yes
or the great No. It's clear at once who has the Yes
ready within him; and saying it,

he goes from honor to honor, strong in his conviction.
He who refuses does not repent. Asked again,
he'd still say no. Yet that no--the right no--
drags him down all his life.

 

 

-- from Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry, by Jane Hirshfield

Amazon.com

 


/ Photo by erix! /


 
 
 
 
 


Recommended Books


C. P. Cavafy: Collected Poems, by Constantine P. Cavafy / Translated by Edmund Keely
Cavafy: A Biography, by Robert Liddell
Cavafy's Alexandria, by Edmund Keely
The Complete Poems of Cavafy: Expanded Edition, by Constantine P. Cavafy / Translated by Rae Dalven

 

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Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2011 by Ivan M. Granger.
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