Ithaca

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Poetry is a great way to express how someone feels. Great poets write poems about events and situations that they could never have imagined (Epstein 4). “Cavafy’s achievement was somehow to write outside time by anchoring his writing as firmly as possible inside time” (Epstein 4). In the year 1911 Cavafy produced “Ithaca” (Ithaka), which was one of his best poem’s, at the age of forty-eight (Epstein 3). This poem is truly one that captures the readers mind and makes him or her think about life. This poem translates into real life situations that many people will have to face or have faced.

C.P. Cavafy was a Greek poet who lived in the ancient city of Alexandria. He was the youngest of nine children (Epstein 1). “Cavafy lived in England from ages 9 to 16. The collapse of the family business led back to Alexandria, working as a journalist and then as a civil servant for Egypt’s Ministry of Public Works ” (Timpane 1). Cavafy was raised with a French tutor and an English nurse in the house (Epstein 2). “A skeptic, he denied or ridiculed traditional values of Christianity, patriotism, and heterosexuality, though he was ill at ease with his own nonconformity” (Cavafy1 1). Cavafy was extremely discreet about his personal life. After his mom died he became more open (Timpane 2). Cavafy died at age seventy due to larynx cancer. He had no collected edition of his poems, nor did he leave instructions for one (Epstein 2). “Constantine Cavafy became one of the most important figures not only in Greek poetry but in Western poetry as well. Cavafy was his own harshest critic, publishing only about 200 poems” (Cavafy1 1).

“Cavafy had a splendid instinct for capturing the perfect historical detail that demonstrated the continuity ...

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... great wisdom you have gained, with so much experience/you must surely have understood by then what Ithacas mean ”(34-36). The moral is not to be mad when one reaches the end; it is only the beginning of his or her new life. People learn so much on voyages, and “Ithaca” does what it was meant to do: guide each person through life and help him or her achieve more and have the greatest life adventure possible.

The poem reflects upon how his mother helped him through everything he did. In the last stanzas Cavafy talks about how he has gained wisdom and experience. His mother played a very important role in his life and this is how he gained that experience and wisdom. Once she died his poetry became more open. C.P. Cavafy is truly one of the best poets who can capture a reader’s mind and take him or her on the best adventure that could have ever been imagined.

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