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Michael Dirda
Above all don't fool yourself, don't say it was
a dream, how your ears tricked you.
  (Anthony Russo) Book World: Poetry Poet's Choice: Excerpts to honor past Poet's Choice hosts.
Objects Are Closer Than They Appear: Michael Collier's intimate examinations
American Idyll: Elegiac poet Donald Hall knows baseball, death.
My Bondage, My Freedom: Natasha Trethewey plumbs public, personal histories.
He Saw the Best Minds of His Generation: Jason Shinder on poet Allen Ginsberg's "Howl"
Notes From Underground: Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney returns to memory and work.
When Doves Cry: Political and personal poetry for the wider world
Confessional: "Black-belt sinner" Mary Karr tells of her conversion to Catholicism in verse.
Alone Together: Stephen Burt takes on the fragmented, soitary nature of American life.
Michael Dirda: "The Collected Poems of C.P. Cavafy" offers a fresh take on the celebrated Greek poet.
Poetry on Audio: "Voices of the Past" opens an ear to history's greatest poets. Audio samples are included.
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Don't stoop to such empty hopes.
As if long prepared, as if full of courage,
as is right for you who are worthy of such a city,
go stand tall by the window
and listen with feeling, but not
with the pleas and whining of a coward,
hear the voices -- your last pleasure --
the exquisite instruments of that secret troupe,
and say good-bye to her, the Alexandria you are losing.
What makes Cavafy (1863-1933) so distinctive, so memorable a poet is what W.H. Auden called his "tone of voice." To some, he may sound merely decadent, a celebrant of furtive homosexual encounters or a nostalgist for the Hellenistic culture of the Asian shore, but to the sympathetic his voice is knowing, accepting, kindly, with the wisdom of the retired epicurean. In "Ithaka," the Odysseus-like reader is urged to enjoy life's journey to the fullest, to "wish that the way be long" and that reaching home should come only after one has accumulated much knowledge, experience and treasure.
