The Wondering Minstrels

Theme: Politics

IN A TOWNSHIP OF ASIA MINOR C. P. Cavafy The news about the outcome of the sea-battle at Actium was of course unexpected. But there’s no need for us to draft a new proclamation. The name’s the only thing that has to be changed. There, in the concluding lines, instead of: “Having freed the Romans from Octavius, that disaster, that parody of a Caesar,” we’ll substitute: “Having freed the Romans from Antony, that disaster, …” The whole text fits very nicely. “To the most glorious victor, matchless in his military ventures, prodigious in his political operations, on whose behalf the township ardently wished for Antony’s triumph, …” here, as we said, the substitution: “for Octavius Caesar’s triumph, regarding it as Zeus’ finest gift – to this mighty protector of the Greeks who graciously honors Greek customs, who is beloved in every Greek domain, who clearly deserves exalted praise, and whose exploits should be recorded at length in the Greek language, in both verse and prose, in the Greek language, the vehicle of fame,” et cetera, et cetera. It all fits brilliantly. 1926

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A brief note on collections. Probably worth a quick read at this point.