"Without compunction, pity or shame, they've built towering walls around me. Desperate, I sit and think one thing: alone here this fate confounds me… - Konstantinos P. Cavafy

"Without compunction, pity or shame,
they've built towering walls around me.

Desperate, I sit and think one thing:
alone here this fate confounds me.

For there were many things I'd hoped to do out there.
With all the construction, how was I not aware?

Yet the crack and clang of hammers I never once heard.
Imperceptibly they've confined me from the outside world.

("Walls")"

English
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About Konstantinos P. Cavafy

Constantine P. Cavafy, also known as Konstantin or Konstantinos Petrou Kavafis, or Kavaphes (Greek Κωνσταντίνος Π. Καβάφης) (29 April 1863 – 29 April 1933) was a Greek poet who is often ranked among most important literary figures of the 20th century.

Biography information from Wikiquote

Also Known As

Native Name: Κωνσταντίνος Πέτρου Καβάφης
Alternative Names: Constantine kavafy C. P. Cavafis Constantin Cavafy K. P. Kavaphēs K. P. Kavafis C. P. Cavafy Konstantine Kavafy Constantinos Cavafis Konstantino Kavafis Constantino Kavafis Konstantin Kavafis Konstantinos Petrou Kavafis Kōnstantinos Petrou Kavaphēs Kavafis Kōnstantinos Petrou Kabaphēs Kawafis Konstandinos Kavafis Konstantinas Kavafis C.P. Cavafy Constantine Peter Cavafy Kōnstantinos P. Kavafīs
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Additional quotes by Konstantinos P. Cavafy

It will be a great relief when a window opens. But the windows are not there to be found — or at least I cannot find them. And perhaps it is better that I don’t find them. Perhaps the light will prove another tyranny. Who knows what new things it will expose?

The Windows In these dark rooms where I pass
such listless days, I wander up and down
looking for the windows – when a window opens
there will be some relief.
But there are no windows, or at least
I cannot find them. And perhaps it’s just as well.
Perhaps the light would prove another torment.
Who knows what new things it would reveal?

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I chociaż o miłości mojej nic powiedzieć nie mogę -
chociaż nic nie mówię o twych włosach, ustach, oczach -
jednak twarz twoja, której strzegę w duszy,
brzmienie twego głosu, które trwa w moim mózgu,
dni września, świtające w mych snach,
nadają kształt i barwę moim słowom, zdaniom,
o czymkolwiek mówię, cokolwiek wypowiadam.

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