Κωνσταντίνος Καβάφης — Ἡ πόλις - Cavafis, The City

Εἶπες: «Θὰ πάγω σ᾿ ἄλλη γῆ, θὰ πάγω σ᾿ ἄλλη θάλασσα,

μιὰ πόλις ἄλλη θὰ βρεθῇ καλλίτερη ἀπὸ αυτή.

Κάθε προσπάθειά μου μιὰ καταδίκη εἶναι γραφτή·

κ᾿ εἶν᾿ ἡ καρδιά μου -σὰν νεκρός - θαμμένη.

Ὁ νοῦς μου ὣς πότε μέσ᾿ στὸν μαρασμὸ αὐτὸν θὰ μένῃ.

Ὅπου τὸ μάτι μου γυρίσω, ὅπου κ᾿ ἂν δῶ

ἐρείπια μαῦρα τῆς ζωῆς μου βλέπω ἐδῶ,

ποὺ τόσα χρόνια πέρασα καὶ ρήμαξα καὶ χάλασα».

Καινούριους τόπους δὲν θὰ βρῇς, δὲν θἅβρῃς ἄλλες θάλασσες.

Ἡ πόλις θὰ σὲ ἀκολουθῇ. Στοὺς δρόμους θὰ γυρνᾶς

τοὺς ἴδιους. Καὶ στὲς γειτονιὲς τὲς ἴδιες θὰ γερνᾶς·

καὶ μέσ᾿ στὰ ἴδια σπίτια αὐτὰ θ᾿ ἀσπρίζῃς.

Πάντα στὴν πόλι αὐτὴ θὰ φθάνῃς. Γιὰ τὰ ἀλλοῦ - μὴν ἐλπίζεις -

δὲν ἔχει πλοῖο γιὰ σέ, δὲν ἔχει ὁδό.

Ἔτσι ποὺ τὴ ζωή σου ρήμαξες ἐδῶ

στὴν κώχη τούτη τὴν μικρή, σ᾿ ὅλην τὴν γῆ τὴν χάλασες.

Κωνσταντῖνος Π. Καβάφης (1910)

The City  You said: “I’ll go to another country, go to another shore, find another city better than this one. Whatever I try to do is fated to turn out wrong and my heart lies buried as though it were something dead. How long can I let my mind moulder in this place? Wherever I turn, wherever I happen to look, I see the black ruins of my life, here, where I’ve spent so many years, wasted them, destroyed them totally.” You won’t find a new country, won’t find another shore. This city will always pursue you. You will walk the same streets, grow old in the same neighborhoods, will turn gray in these same houses. You will always end up in this city. Don’t hope for things elsewhere: there is no ship for you, there is no road. As you’ve wasted your life here, in this small corner, you’ve destroyed it everywhere else in the world. Translated by Edmund Keeley/Philip Sherrard