Analysis of He Came to Read

Constantine P. Cavafy 1863 (Alexandria) – 1933 (Alexandria)



He came to read. Two or three books
are open; historians and poets.
But he only read for ten minutes,
and gave them up. He is dozing
on the sofa. He is fully devoted to books
but he is twenty-three years old, and he's very handsome;
and this afternoon love passed
through his ideal flesh, his lips.
Through his flesh which is full of beauty
the heat of love passed;
without any silly shame for the form of the enjoyment.....


Scheme ABBCADEFGEH
Poetic Form
Metre 11111111 1100100010 111011110 01111110 1010111001011 11110111011010 010111 1101111 111111110 01111 011010110110010
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 423
Words 82
Sentences 7
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 11
Lines Amount 11
Letters per line (avg) 30
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 327
Words per stanza (avg) 80
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 22, 2023

24 sec read
85

Constantine P. Cavafy

Constantine P. Cavafy was a Greek poet who lived in Alexandria and worked as a journalist and civil servant. He published 154 poems; dozens more remained incomplete or in sketch form. His most important poetry was written after his fortieth birthday. more…

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