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J. Ott's avatar

You inspired me to try my hand at my own version…

*The God Abandons Antony*

after Konstantin Kavafis, Leonard Cohen, Sharon Robinson

_“During this night, it is said, about the middle of it, while the city was quiet and depressed through fear and expectation of what was coming, suddenly certain harmonious sounds from all sorts of instruments were heard, and the shouting of a throng, accompanied by cries of Bacchic revelry and satyric leapings, as if a troop of revellers, making a great tumult, were going forth from the city … Those who sought the meaning of the sign were of the opinion that the god to whom Antony always most likened and attached himself was now deserting him.” -Plutarch, Antony_

When you hear the sudden midnight shouts —

The wild music, lively ruckus,

An outbound spectral jamboree —

Don’t whine to me your streak of luck has

Inverted, your work undone. Your schemes

Deceived you and there’s no use grieving.

Buck up your courage, as you’ve practiced.

Tell her goodbye, Alexandria leaving.

And, most important, don’t deny

The honest evidence of ears;

Don’t claim it is hallucination

Knowing well your city’s cheers.

Step boldly to the open window,

Resolve the tonic of the throng.

Tell her goodbye, Alexandria leaving.

Goodbye, Alexandria, so long.

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Synechococcus elongatus's avatar

Your translation is quite moving. I learnt of this poem after hearing Leonard Cohen's "Alexandra leaving" , which is quite explicitly modelled in it. Have you examined Cohen's turns of phrase and compared them with the two translations?

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