The God Abandons Antony
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"The God Abandons Anthony" is a poem by Constantine P. Cavafy, published in 1911. The poem refers to Plutarch's story of how Antony, besieged in Alexandria by Octavian, heard the sounds of instruments and voices making its way through the city, and then passed out; the god Bacchus (Dionysus), Antony's protector, was deserting him.
Leonard Cohen freely adapted "The God Abandons Antony" for his song "Alexandra Leaving" (Ten New Songs, 2002). [1] Whereas Cavafy's focus was on the city of Alexandria, Cohen's version concerns a man's loss of a woman named Alexandra.
 |
This page is a candidate to be copied to Wikisource. If the page can be edited into an encyclopedic article, rather than merely a copy of the source text, please do so and remove this message. Otherwise, you can help by formatting it per the Wikisource guidelines in preparation for being imported to Wikisource by a Wikisource admin. Note that if this source text is not in English, it will have to be copied using the transwiki process.
|
The God Abandons Anthony
By Constantine P. Cavafy
When suddenly at midnight an invisible
procession is heard passing
with unearthly music, and with voices -
do not mourn in vain your fate that's fading now,
your works all failed, your life's
ambitions proving all a sham.
As if you had been ready for some time,
as one with courage, bid farewell to her,
the Alexandria that's leaving.
Above all don't be fooled, don't say it was
a dream, and that your hearing was mistaken;
don't stoop to such vain hopes.
As if you had been ready for some time,
as one with courage, as befits a man who
once was worthy of a city such as this,
approach the window steadily,
and listen with emotion - not with
a coward's pleas, entreaties -
up to the end enjoy the sounds,
unearthly instruments of the mysterious
procession... bid farewell to her,
the Alexandria you're losing.
—Translated by Peter J. King and Andrea Christofidou
