Analysis of The Satrapy
Constantine P. Cavafy 1863 (Alexandria) – 1933 (Alexandria)
What a misfortune, although you are made
for fine and great works
this unjust fate of yours always
denies you encouragement and success;
that base customs should block you;
and pettiness and indifference.
And how terrible the day when you yield
(the day when you give up and yield),
and you leave on foot for Susa,
and you go to the monarch Artaxerxes
who favorably places you in his court,
and offers you satrapies and the like.
And you accept them with despair
these things that you do not want.
Your soul seeks other things, weeps for other things;
the praise of the public and the Sophists,
the hard-won and inestimable Well Done;
the Agora, the Theater, and the Laurels.
How can Artaxerxes give you these,
where will you find these in a satrapy;
and what life can you live without these.
Scheme | ABCDEFGGHBIJKLMBNOPQP |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 100101111 11011 1011111 0110100001 1110111 010000100 0110001111 01111101 01111110 0111011 11000101011 01011001 01011101 1111111 11110111101 011010001 0110111 010001000010 111111 11111001 011111011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 780 |
Words | 144 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 21 |
Lines Amount | 21 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 629 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 142 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 28, 2023
- 43 sec read
- 146 Views
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"The Satrapy" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 12 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/7253/the-satrapy>.
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