100 year old Cavafy Poem about Male Prostitution

[Rod Hagen]

Thought some of you would appreciate this early 20th century poem by this poet:

 

http://www.glbtq.com/literature/cavafy_cp.html

 

Days of 1909, '10, and '11

 

He was the son of a misused, poverty-stricken sailor

(from an island in the Aegean Sea).

He worked for an ironmonger: his clothes shabby,

his workshoes miserably torn,

his hands filthy with rust and oil.

In the evenings, after the shop closed,

if there was something he longed for especially,

a more or less expensive tie,

a tie for Sunday,

or if he saw and coveted

a beautiful blue shirt in some store window,

he'd sell his body for a half-crown or two.

 

I ask myself if the great Alexandria

of ancient times could boast of a boy

more exquisite, more perfect -thoroughly neglected though

he was:

that is, we don't have a statue or painting of him;

thrust into that poor ironmonger's shop,

overworked, harassed, given to cheap debauchery,

he was soon used up.

 

Constantine P. Cavafy

[JoeyBryant]

or if he saw and coveted

a beautiful blue shirt in some store window,

he'd sell his body for a half-crown or two.

 

wow...a good example that pretentiousness existed even in the olden days.

[Juan Vancouver]

I love Cavafy's work. Thanks for bringing it up.

[Rod Hagen]

Cavafy would have loved your work Juan :-)

[+ newatthis]

Cavafy figures as a major off-stage character throughout the 4 books of Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet. Well worth reading.

[seeker630]

I first discovered Cavafy written on a bathroom stall wall in the most notorious 'tea room' at my graduate school. (I don't remember which poem itwas from, but the transcriber had thoughtfully credited the author and I tracked down a volume the next day.)

 

And I have the feeling Cavafy would have like the way that happened.

[Rod Hagen]

Cavafy figures as a major off-stage character throughout the 4 books of Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet. Well worth reading.

 

 

WISHLISTED. Thank You!

[Guest ryan2552]

Thanks for posting this.

[+ Charlie]

Cavafy figures as a major off-stage character throughout the 4 books of Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet. Well worth reading.

 

I first encountered Cavafy through The Alexandria Quartet when I was in graduate school, but I don't think many people read Cavafy or Durrell anymore, which is a pity.

[+ newatthis]

I first encountered Cavafy through The Alexandria Quartet when I was in graduate school, but I don't think many people read Cavafy or Durrell anymore, which is a pity.

I was much more precocious; I read the Quartet when I was a sophomore in college. (And, as you know, you were not in graduate school when I was in college.) One funny thing: it took me a while to discover that Cavafy was (or had been) a real, live poet and wasn't just a character created by Durrell .

[Rod Hagen]

Fantastic Cavafy collection:

http://www.amazon.com/C-P-Cavafy-Collected-Poems/dp/0375400966/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1278611408&sr=1-4