Reading/Questions for Cavafy, Poems 1905-1915 (from The Collected Poems)

 

From Poems 1905-1915:

* The City
* Wise Men 

* Finished 

* The God Forsakes Anthony
* Monotony
* Ithaca
* As Best You Can
* Trojans
* Sculptor of Tyana
* In Church

* Very Seldom

* Painted

* At the Entrance of the Cafe
* One Night 

* Come Back
* Far Away

* He Vows 

* I Went 

Answer 2 of the following: 

Q1: In a poem like "Wise Men," Cavafy claims that mortals see present things, gods the things to come, and wise men that which is imminent. What is the difference between that which is present and that which is imminent? And who might these "wise men" be? Is there another poem that sheds light on this? 

Q2: Cavafy's most famous poem is "Ithaca," and it refers to Homer's The Odyssey--Odysseus is always trying to get back home to Ithaca. However, the poem argues that "Ithaca gave you the wondrous voyage:/without her you'd never had set out./But she has nothing to give you any more" (39). What do you think he means by this? Why is home never the destination you think it is, according to him? 

Q3: Many of this poems are frankly about defeat and futility, often using events of the past--like the Trojan War--to highlight this. According to many of these poems, what causes humans to give up or fold in the face of disaster? Why are so few of us heroic like the heroes of old? What makes humans so predictably human, and so predictably flawed? 

Q4: In the earlier poem "Desires," the poet reflects on what happens to desires that are never acted upon. How do some of these poems reflect on the opposite: what happens when you do act upon them? Is that the secret to a good life--simply to indulge in pleasure? Or is there a darker side to this as well?