Arts Universe and Philology

Arts Universe and Philology
The blog "Art, Universe, and Philology" is an online platform dedicated to the promotion and exploration of art, science, and philology. Its owner, Konstantinos Vakouftsis, shares his thoughts, analyses, and passion for culture, the universe, and literature with his readers.

Τετάρτη 25 Μαρτίου 2020

Κωνσταντίνος Π. Καβάφης, «Μονοτονία». Constantine P. Cavafy, “Monotony”

James Gleeson, We Inhabit the Corrosive Littoral of Habit, 1940

Την μια μονότονην ημέραν άλλη
μονότονη, απαράλλακτη ακολουθεί. Θα γίνουν
τα ίδια πράγματα, θα ξαναγίνουν πάλι —
η όμοιες στιγμές μας βρίσκουνε και μας αφίνουν.

Μήνας περνά και φέρνει άλλον μήνα.
Aυτά που έρχονται κανείς εύκολα τα εικάζει·
είναι τα χθεσινά τα βαρετά εκείνα.
Και καταντά το αύριο πια σαν αύριο να μη μοιάζει.

Ben Cowan, Sans titre

MONOTONY

Harriet Backer (1845–1932), Solitude (c 1880), media and dimensions not known, Private collection. The Athenaeum.

One monotonous day follows another
equally monotonous. The same things
will happen again, and then will happen again,
the same moments will come and go.

A month passes by and brings another month.
Easy to guess what lies ahead:
all of yesterday’s boredom.
And tomorrow ends up no longer like tomorrow.

Mark Rothko, Black in Deep Red, 1957

Reprinted from C.P. CAVAFY: Collected Poems Revised Edition, translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard, edited by George Savidis. Translation copyright © 1975, 1992 by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard. Princeton University Press.