ΙΘΑΚΗ

C. P. CAVAFY

ITHACA

Now as you set out to Ithaca

Do wish your route to be a long one

Full of adventures, filling you with knowledge.

Do not fear the Lestrygonians and the Cyclops

The furious Neptune.

Such things you won’t encounter as you travel

If you keep your thoughts high, if an exalted

Frisson guides you, body and spirit,

The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops

The angered Neptune you will never meet.

If in your soul they do not dwell

If your own soul doesn’t bring them forward..

And wish yourself a long, long journey,

May the summer days be many for you

When with what joy, what immense pleasure

You will enter harbours you never saw before

And stop by the Phoenician merchants’ shops

And buy their precious merchandise

Mother-of-pearl and coral, ebony and amber

And all kind of scents voluptuous.

Do buy as many voluptuous scents as you can

Visit as many Egyptian cities as you can

And learn, and learn from the wise men.

Always carry Ithaca in your thoughts

That destination should be your constant goal

But never hasten in your journey

And when you are old, then reach your island,

Rich with all you have gained on your way there

Never expecting Ithaca to enrich you.

Ithaca gave you the wonderful journey

Without it you would never have set out.

Ithaca has to offer nothing further

And though it may appear so humble now

Ithaca has not fooled you.

Wise as you have become, rich in experience

You know well now what Ithaca stands for.

Translated by Alexis Panselinos.