{"id":6002,"date":"2018-02-06T10:52:21","date_gmt":"2018-02-06T17:52:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=6002"},"modified":"2018-02-06T10:54:53","modified_gmt":"2018-02-06T17:54:53","slug":"constantine-p-cavafy-ithaca-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2018\/02\/06\/constantine-p-cavafy-ithaca-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Constantine P. Cavafy – Ithaca"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ithaca
\nby Constantine P. Cavafy<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

English version by George Barbanis<\/font><\/p>\n

When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,
\npray that the road is long,
\nfull of adventure, full of knowledge.
\nThe Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
\nthe angry Poseidon \u2014 do not fear them:
\nYou will never find such as these on your path,
\nif your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine
\nemotion touches your spirit and your body.
\nThe Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
\nthe fierce Poseidon you will never encounter,
\nif you do not carry them within your soul,
\nif your soul does not set them up before you.
\n\u00a0
\nPray that the road is long.
\nThat the summer mornings are many, when,
\nwith such pleasure, with such joy
\nyou will enter ports seen for the first time;
\nstop at Phoenician markets,
\nand purchase fine merchandise,
\nmother-of-pearl and coral, amber, and ebony,
\nand sensual perfumes of all kinds,
\nas many sensual perfumes as you can;
\nvisit many Egyptian cities,
\nto learn and learn from scholars.
\n\u00a0
\nAlways keep Ithaca on your mind.
\nTo arrive there is your ultimate goal.
\nBut do not hurry the voyage at all.
\nIt is better to let it last for many years;
\nand to anchor at the island when you are old,
\nrich with all you have gained on the way,
\nnot expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.
\n\u00a0
\nIthaca has given you the beautiful voyage.
\nWithout her you would have never set out on the road.
\nShe has nothing more to give you.
\n\u00a0
\nAnd if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you.
\nWise as you have become, with so much experience,
\nyou must already have understood what these Ithacas mean.<\/em><\/p>\n


\/ Image by makithaca<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

A little motivation to take down that old copy of Homer\u2019s Odyssey, dust it off, and crack it open once again. It was a favorite of mine when I was a teenager, with gods, monsters, heroes, adventure\u2026 and a reminder of my Greek heritage.<\/p>\n

In the Odyssey, the hero Odysseus was returning home from the Trojan War to his island kingdom of Ithaca, but conflicts with gods and monsters and weather kept leading him off course into new adventures. It took him twenty years to finally return home!<\/p>\n

When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,
\npray that the road is long,
\nfull of adventure, full of knowledge.<\/i><\/p>\n

Cavafy\u2019s poem reminds us of the Odyssey\u2019s hidden truth, that the hero\u2019s journey to Ithaca is the soul\u2019s journey home.<\/p>\n

Ancient tradition says that Homer\u2019s epics, the Illiad and the Odyssey, combine into a grand mystery tale, understood by initiates as describing the stages and struggles of the soul\u2019s inner journey.<\/p>\n

pray that the road is long,
\nfull of adventure, full of knowledge\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

Too often seekers disparage the road, its bumps and turns, impatient for the destination.<\/p>\n

To arrive there is your ultimate goal.
\nBut do not hurry the voyage at all.<\/i><\/p>\n

But the stops along the journey are not roadblocks, they are stepping stones. Actually, even that\u2019s not true. Seen clearly, the journey and the destination are a single continuum. The river pours into the sea, and they are one. Seated on the slow-moving river, we already touch the sea. <\/p>\n

\u2026and purchase fine merchandise,
\nmother-of-pearl and coral, amber, and ebony,
\nand sensual perfumes of all kinds,
\nas many sensual perfumes as you can\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

Cavafy suggests that worldly experience, the senses, a certain amount of materialism, these too are part of the journey. The physical world is the realm through which the soul journeys. Encountering marvels and terrors the soul strengthens and comes to know itself. Knowing itself in victory and adversity, the soul is finally ready to return. <\/p>\n

But to navigate through such bewildering, overwhelming experiences, the destination must never be forgotten:<\/p>\n

Always keep Ithaca on your mind.<\/i><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t rush through the journey, impatient only for its end. The adventure is our soul\u2019s story.<\/p>\n

Wise as you have become, with so much experience,
\nyou must already have understood what these Ithacas mean.<\/i><\/p>\n

The wisdom you attain with each step reveals the destination\u2019s true meaning.<\/p>\n

And it is just as true to say that the destination\u2019s gift is contained in the journey itself:<\/p>\n

Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.<\/i><\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Constantine P. Cavafy<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

\n\n\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
C. P. Cavafy: Collected Poems<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThe Complete Poems of Cavafy: Expanded Edition<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nCavafy\u2019s Alexandria<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nCavafy: A Biography<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n
\n\"Constantine<\/a>\n<\/td>\n\nConstantine P. Cavafy<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Egypt (1863 \u2013 1933) Timeline<\/a>
\nSecular or Eclectic<\/a><\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/em>\n<\/td>\n

<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

More poetry by Constantine P. Cavafy<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ithaca by Constantine P. Cavafy English version by George Barbanis When you set out on your journey to Ithaca, pray that the road is long, full of adventure, full of knowledge. The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops, the angry Poseidon \u2014 do not fear them: You will never find such as these on your path, if […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2140,490,1132,677,1134,2141,678,1291,1164],"class_list":["post-6002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-cavafy","tag-constantine-p-cavafy","tag-heros-journey","tag-ithaca","tag-journey","tag-odysseus","tag-odyssey","tag-souls-journey","tag-spiritual-journey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6002"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6005,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6002\/revisions\/6005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}