Search citation statements
Paper Sections
Citation Types
Year Published
Publication Types
Relationship
Authors
Journals
The publication of five poems, hitherto unknown, by the poet Cavafy-all on the theme of Julian the Apostate-and the projected edition of his reading notes on Gibbon's Decline and Fall illuminate not only the poet's obsession with Julian but also the principles of his craft. 1 It is perhaps not too presumptuous for an historian to attempt an assessment of Cavafy's work on Julian in the light of the rich new material, for he is said himself to have declared that he was an historical poet: JJoXXoi noinxai elvai fiovov noxnxai.. .. 'Eyd> el^iai %oir\zr\o, iaropiKoq. 2 This remark finds confirmation in a critique from May 1927, written earlier by the poet or by a sympathetic associate, with a threefold categorization of
The publication of five poems, hitherto unknown, by the poet Cavafy-all on the theme of Julian the Apostate-and the projected edition of his reading notes on Gibbon's Decline and Fall illuminate not only the poet's obsession with Julian but also the principles of his craft. 1 It is perhaps not too presumptuous for an historian to attempt an assessment of Cavafy's work on Julian in the light of the rich new material, for he is said himself to have declared that he was an historical poet: JJoXXoi noinxai elvai fiovov noxnxai.. .. 'Eyd> el^iai %oir\zr\o, iaropiKoq. 2 This remark finds confirmation in a critique from May 1927, written earlier by the poet or by a sympathetic associate, with a threefold categorization of
The sources of inspiration concerning the poems of C.P. Cavafy are not known in their whole scope. In the following pages some eight poems of the Alexandrian poet are discussed, the sources of which were either completely unknown or only partly recognized. The cases in question do not exhaust this topic.
The King of Asine', one of George Seferis's best-known poems, is the subject of the present article, which falls into two parts. The first part follows the standard interpretation, but with an emphasis on aspects that have not (at least sufficiently) been commented on hitherto. The second part pursues a new approach and concludes by proposing another, parallel, reading whereby 'The King of Asine' is also seen as exploring the poetic experience. Seferis o n c e w r o t e to T i m o s M a l a n o s that h a v i n g finished a p i e c e and g i v e n it to the publisher he w o u l d lose interest in it; he sees it * An earlier version of this article was read at the colloquium 'George Seferis in a Comparative Context' (University of Birmingham, 21/10/2000), and as one of 'Four Lectures on George Seferis (1900-1971)' (University of Cambridge, 22/11/2000). My thanks are due to the participants for the discussion that ensued on both occasions. I am particularly grateful, moreover, to Peter Mackridge, Theano Michaelidou and Harry Davis who read the typescript of this article and made valuable comments and suggestions. Quotations from Seferis's prose writings are followed by a translation; unless otherwise indicated, the rendering is mine. An English rendering of his verse was considered superfluous, since the Keeley & Sherrard translation of his poetry is easily available: George Seferis, Collected Poems, tr. Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard (3rd edn, London 1982) as well as the new and revised (but no longer bilingual) edition, George Seferis, Complete Poems, tr. Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard (London 1995). The titles in English that I have adopted of Seferis's poems are those of the 1982 edition. For the Greek I have used G. Seferis, rjoirj/uaTa, 9th edn. [ed. G.P. Savvidis] (Athens 1974). The words of Maro Seferis prefacing this article ('How strange, the word "king" keeps cropping up all the time. Would you say it is because of our "King of Asine"?') are taken from her letter of
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.