Constantin P. Cavafy's The God Abandons Antony (#poem) ... or maybe Forsakes...

The God Forsakes Antony

When suddenly, at the midnight hour

an invisible company is heard going past,

with exquisite music, with voices--

your fate that's giving in now, your deeds

that failed, your life's plans that proved to be

all illusions, do not needlessly lament.

As one long since prepared, as one courageous,

bid farewell to the Alexandria that's leaving.

Above all, don't be misled, don't say it was

a dream, that your ears deceived you;

don't deign to foster such vain hopes.

As one long since prepared, as one courageous,

as befits you who were deemed worthy of such a city,

move with steady steps toward the window

and listen with deepest feeling, yet not

with a coward's entreaties and complaints,

listen as an ultimate delight to the sounds,

to the exquisite instruments of the mystical company,

and bid farewell to the Alexandria you are losing.

-Constantin P. Cavafy (tr. Evangelos Sachperoglu)

One of the most famous of Cavafy's poems. I should have picked something less well-known, but in the end, I didn't. 😉 The final version of the poem is from 1911. Cavafy is, of course, a native of Alexandria.

It alludes to Plutarch's Life of Antony (ch. 75, here from the 'Dryden' translation). Dionysus, Antony's patron god, leaves him to his fate. Antony is bottled up by Octavian's forces in Alexandria:

'That night, it is related, about the middle of it, when the whole city was was in a deep silence and general sadness, expecting the event of the next day, on a sudden was heard the sound of all sorts of instruments, and voices singing in tune, and the cry of a crowd of people shouting and dancing, like a troop of bacchanals on its way. This tumultuous procession seemed to take its course right through the middle of the city to the gate nearest the enemy; here it became the loudest, and suddenly passed out. People who reflected considered this to signify that Bacchus, the god whom Antony had always made it his study to copy and imitate, had now forsaken him."

Antony commits suicide the next day rather than be taken by Octavian, shortly to be followed by Cleopatra.

I was spouting off about Cavafy translations recently, and have been wanting to look them up. I generally prefer the Sachperoglu versions (in Oxford World Classics) except I prefer the alternative title 'The God Abandons Antony', more commonly used. The first few lines from the Keeley and Sherrard version:

At midnight, when suddenly you hear

an invisible procession going by

with exquisite music, voices,

don't mourn your luck that's failing now,

work gone wrong, your plans

all proving deceptive--don't mourn them uselessly:

as one long prepared, and full of courage,

say goodbye to her, to Alexandria who is leaving.

And the opening of the Daniel Mendelsohn version:

When suddenly at midnight, there comes the sound

of an invisible procession passing by

with exquisite music playing, with voices raised--

your good fortune, which now gives way; all your efforts'

ill-starred outcome; the plans you made for life,

which turned out wrong: don't mourn them uselessly

Like one who's long prepared, like someone brave,

bid farewell to her, to Alexandria, who is leaving.

Your preference?

The Sachperoglu is bilingual; the Mendelsohn has more poems and more notes. Keeley & Sherrard is probably the best-known.

I started to type in the Greek, but doing that on my English keyboard began to feel like a chore...

I believe there is also a version by Rae Dalven, who was the first to translate a volume of Cavafy into English, in 1961, but I couldn't conveniently find it. But in looking for it on line, I discovered Leonard Cohen set a version to music on his album Ten New Songs of 2001. He sings it as a duet with Sharon Robinson. Alexandria gets changed to Alexandra, so it can pass as a breakup song if you like.

I thought it was pretty good.

Cavafy is important in the Durrell Alexandria Quartet series.