He lost him completely. And he now tries to find
his lips in the lips of each new lover,
he tries in the union with each new lover
to convince himself that it’s the same young man,
that it’s to him he gives himself.
He lost him completely, as though he never existed.
He wanted, his lover said, to save himself
from the tainted, unhealthy form of sexual pleasure,
the tainted, shameful form of sexual pleasure.
There was still time, he said, to save himself.
He lost him completely, as though he never existed.
Through fantasy, through hallucination,
he tries to find his lips in the lips of other young men,
he longs to feel his kind of love once more.
Reprinted from C. P. CAVAFY: Collected Poems Revised Edition, translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard, edited by George Savvidis. Translation copyright © 1975, 1992 by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard. Princeton University Press. For reuse of these translations, please contact Princeton University Press.
The Canon
In Sparta
Next PoemPoem
He Asked about the Quality―
The new Cavafy Archive building on Frynichou Street in Plaka
Adults
Seven Poems, Seven Lessons
Onassis Library
Series of open classes at the Cavafy archive 2016-17
Exhibition
Through the Walls
New York
An international committee for a global Cavafy
Educators
Cavafy Goes to School - For adults 2018-2019
Onassis Library
A workshop that will help you discover each student’s talents and inclinations.