The sea engulfed a sailor in its depths. Unaware, his mother goes and lights a tall candle before the ikon of our Lady, praying for him to come back quickly, for the weather to be good— her ear cocked always to the wind. While she prays and supplicates, the ikon listens, solemn, sad, knowing the son she waits for never will come back.
Reprinted from C.P. CAVAFY: Collected Poems Revised Edition, translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard, edited by George Savidis. 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