The Collected Poems: with parallel Greek text (Oxford World’s Classics) by C.P. Cavafy (PDF)

Description

a Greek gentleman in a straw hat, standing absolutely motionless at a slight angle to the universe’ E. M. ForsterE. M. Forster’s description of C. P. Cavafy (1863-1933) perfectly encapsulates the unique perspective Cavafy brought to bear on history and geography, sexuality and language in his poems. Cavafy writes about people on the periphery, whose religious, ethnic and cultural identities are blurred, and he was one of the pioneers in expressing a specifically homosexual sensibility. His poems present brief and vivid evocations of historical scenes and sensual moments, often infused with hisdistinctive sense of irony. They have established him as one of the most important poets of the twentieth century.This volume presents the most authentic Greek text of the 154 authorized poems ever published, together with a new English translation that conveys the accent and rhythm of Cavafy’s individual tone of voice.ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World’s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford’s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Not enough room to say.

⭐I am very much enjoying this book and I particularly like the format (Greek on one side, English on the other). No, I don’t speak Greek, but I can read enough to get a feel for it, and it makes the work that much more accessible.Cavafy’s work is especially enjoyable for his attachment to the Classics.

⭐This collection of poems by Cavafis is a must for everyone who is interested in classic Greek poetry, and comes at a very low price compared to similar editions. It contains all the important poems by Cavafis and it’s value is timeless.However, the English translation is not top notch, and one should compare the English verses of ITHACA with the ones recited by Sir Sean Connery in Youtube, namely:[…], that are clearly superior. Nevertheless, poetry translation is a an almost impossible task and poems never sound as good in a translation.Another interesting comparison in terms of passion and sentiment between English and Greek theatrical actors can be made if one also hears ITHACA by Eli Lambeti in: […]

⭐A closer translation than most, but entirely fluent to read, and retains the imagery of the original. The introduction gives helpful context.

⭐C.P. Cavafy remains marvelous. This e-version however is apparently not in Kindle format. It’s not readable on the cloud reader, which is beyond annoying for me. You must use an app on a mobile device. I am most likely to be reading this in front of a laptop.The text is so small on my phone you can’t read it in portrait mode. And because it’s not formatted for a kindle you can’t change the font size. Unless you flip your phone landscape. THEN it will reformat to be a size that is almost readable for me. I find holding a phone in landscape to read a book to be awkward.I basically just flushed money down the toilet on a book I cannot access conveniently. WHICH IS THE WHOLE POINT OF KINDLE FOR ME.This is a terrible thing to do to wonderful poetry.

⭐Excellent bilingual edition, very good translation. Exactly what I was looking for.

⭐Great poems; great intro and having the greek text on the side is excellent.

⭐At last! I can’t read Greek 100% although i am Greek born, I just love seeing the Greek text alongside the English for this revered poet! Translations of C.P. Cavafy’s poems do vary so this is an interesting way to tract the English and Greek, it engages the reader even more deeply into the emotional colour of this poet’s works.

⭐I love Cavafy’s poetry but as I read I could see lots of names and allusions were noted with an asterisk. I could find nowhere there was more information and it wasn’t until I got near the end of this edition that I discovered that a large number of pages were missing! So, the poems stop suddenly at page 208. This means that all explanatory notes, glossary, chronological list of poems, index of Greek titles and index of English titles are missing! The book should end at page 237 so 30 pages are missing. It looks complete, the binding is fine, so it looks like this company is selling stuff as genuine when OUP has probably remaindered it because there was an error in a printing. If it was stated that the books were incomplete that would be one thing but to sell books that are clearly imperfect is not on. Despite a complaint to Amazon I have heard nothing. Very disappointing because the poetry is beautiful and Cavafy is such an interesting man.

⭐A Greek Cypriot, I loved the poetry of Kavafy in all my life. Not only in my small island state, but also in Metropolitan Greece, and in the Greek diaspora, in the whole Hellenism and in their collective consciousness, Kavafy is the undisputed best of all poets in modern Greece. And this is remarkable considering that the only two recipients of a Nobel prize in Greece were poets: George Seferis and Odysseas Elytis.Kavafy’s poetry possesses clarity, the message is simple, unmistakable but profound, his penetrating intellect has the prowess to dissect and reveal naked the true nature of the human condition. You have the acute feeling that his poetry is a distillate from which all redundancy has been purged and all verse has been polished to perfection. Irony and a twist in his verse recur and beauty is ever present. Homosexuality is explicit but filtered as a hymn to youth, beauty, and passion. His poetry has a transcendent and universal quality.An exquisite summary of the great Alexandrian poet’s oeuvre is presented in the iconic phrase of E.M.Forster and its elaboration on the book’s cover:’a Greek gentleman in a straw hat, standing absolutely motionless at a slight angle to the universe’E.M.Forster’E.M.Forster’s description of C.P.Cavafy(1863-1933)perfectly encapsulates the unique perspective Cavafy brought to bear on history and geography, sexuality and language in his poems. Cavafy writes about people on the periphery, whose religious, ethnic, and cultural identities are blurred, and he was one of the pioneers in expressing a specifically homosexual sensibility. His poems present brief and vivid evocations of historical scenes and sensual moments, often infused with his distinctive sense of irony. They have established him as one of the most important poets of the twentieth century.’

⭐Obviously what poetry appeals to you is a personal matter so it’s pointless for me to extol Cavafy’s writing. I find it very direct and very poignant. Many of the poems have an ‘end of period’, romantic wistfulness. Be warned though that there is quite a variety here and possibly the bulk relying very much on classical allusions which I find slightly weighty sometimes. Though I found nothing that was not worth reading.My understanding is that Cavafy only published his work privately and for selected friends. I was surprised how challenging his poetry is for somebody living between the mid 19th century and the 1930s. Many of the poems are openly intimate, erotic and with homosexual (excuse the old word!) grounding.The introduction was excellent and the book very well laid out.However the real treat for some people, and presumably students, is that the text is laid out in parallel English and Greek. The Greek is a strange mixture of forms but has a wonderfully light and rhymthic feel.Given the low cost I would strong recommend it to anybody

⭐This is an exemplary book. The Greek text is face-to-face with the translation and there are useful notes and an informative introduction. Very many translations of foreign poets are published without the original text, which many students and interested readers would want to see, so this is a welcome exception. (There are also welcome exceptions for Ritsos, but they are not numerous.)I have the Kindle version as well as the printed book. On my particular Android tablet the app does not show two pages side-by-side, so if that could be a problem for you the paper book is the better option.The poems of Cavafy need no commendation in addition to those from other reviewers. The Greek is remarkably standard and I have encountered no word absent from the Oxford dictionary, although I have had to puzzle for a minute or two over some verbs.

⭐As an army child I once lived in Alexandria, the home of this great Alexandrian poet of Greek extraction.Cavafy was a gay poet writing in Alexandria in the early years of the 20th Century (he died in 1933) and brought to his poetry not only great sensibility and sensitivity but conjured up wonderful images of his beloved Alexandria – past and present.Now that I live in Greece, I have no excuse to read Cavafy in his original Greek. This parallel English-Greek edition of his best poems is therefore perfect.No excuse, Claudia! Get on with it.

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