Letter by John Cavafy to C. P. Cavafy

GR-OF CA CA-SF02-S01-SS02-F20-SF001-0011 (386)

ROTATE

MAGNIFY

ENLARGE

DOWNLOAD

DOWNLOAD ALL

PHOTO 1
PHOTO 2
PHOTO 3
PHOTO 4

                 [Alexandria] 20 November 1882                  10 pm     My dear Constantinus,     I have just returned from a heavy day’s     work, and though somewhat fatigued, willingly sit down
    to answer your nice letter of the 12th which I received yes-     terday. I am glad you like the proem of my “Arabesque”:     it was written in a happy moment. I cannot, however,     adopt your amendment of the last line, for I wish it to     be clearly understood that the prologue is, virtually, an     epilogue, and composed after the entire execution of the     poem. Here is another extract.           vi           “Another dream I dreamt: From the far East           On swift-aired pinions came a wondrous bird           With plumage partly golden, partly red;           A palm-bough in its beak, the sign of Time. ―           Meseemed five hundred years had passed away           Since last I saw it, and I knew it came           From Araby to burn itself in myrrh,           And issuing from the temple of the Sun,           Resuscitated in a nobler form,           Would take again its journey to the East!
          Oh, soul! Is this thine emblem? Is the earth           The end of thy migrations, whither fire           Consumes thy perishable frame, and whence
          Thou soarest on thy journey to the East,           The aspiration of thy dreams, ― the Sun!”    This as you know is the myth of the Phoenix described by    Herodotus in his book on Egypt.    I note you write from Aunt Plessos’ house, but a short    letter from Paul today gives us to understand that you have    moved to Yenikeuy. Tell me how you like it and whether    poor mother is more comfortable there than at Kadikeuy.    Your extracts from our grandfather’s notebook have much    amused and interested me. The style is indeed quaint and    strongly smacks of Biblical diction.    Έρως αλγοφόρος ― will do nicely ― Thanks to thee, omniscient    brother. Your quotation from Victor Hugo, I am well
   acquainted with, and so are you if I mistake not. I    remember seeing it in the Misérables, where it is given    as an epitome of the frame of mind of Marius after a    vain search in the Luxembourg for Cosette.    The great master! When will there appear such another    genius? I cannot help quoting Browning:                     “Ah, that brave
          Bounty of poets, the one royal race           That ever was, or will be, in this world!           They give no gift that bounds itself and ends           I’ the giving and the taking: theirs so breeds           I’ the heart and soul o’ the taker, so transmutes           The man who only was a man before,           That he grows god-like in his turn, can give ―           He also: share the poets’ privilege,           Bring forth new good, new beauty, from the old.”―
     Now to answer your queries: ―         As I have already told you, there was some talk here      that the Government would pay by the end of the year      all claims not exceeding £ 400 ― This however was an      idle rumour, and ― as a matter of fact ― nothing has yet      been done to the settlement of, or enquiry into, ― claims.      The Egyptian Gazette states that the Political question will      first have to be laid at rest, and finally liquidated, before      the Indemnity can be brought sur le tapis.
     S. Georgala is now a broker on his own account, but I am      told does nothing.      Mr. Moss leaves this on the 5th December viâ Naples.      Neroutsos Bey is here, but his “rotunda mulier” is still      absent.      B. Georgala is also here and at the head of his old business      viz. Georgala Chrysoveloni and Co.      Antoniadis’ family have not yet returned.      There has been no change in the staff of our Office ―
     Vella etc. occupy their former positions.      “I sought” is the perfect tense of the verb “I seek” ―      The “i” in “blithe” is pronounced as in “mind” and the      “th” as in “the”. This word is also spelt “blythe”. ―      e.g. “Hail to thee, blythe spirit”, etc. etc.      Alexandria is becoming quite brisk again. The Poli-      teama has started an Operette: and the Rossini theatre
― to my great disgust and infinite despair ― has become a Café chantant. From 8 till midnight the infernal orchestra plays its dislocated tunes, and the “rowdy” au- dience kicks up such a row as nearly drives me mad ― Night after night, from my solitary chamber, I heartily send the whole concern to the devil and wish it to some hot place. I can’t sleep, I can’t read, I can’t write, I can’t think, through this abominable nuisance, and I often wish for the thunderbolts of cloud-compelling Jove to burn the wooden barrack to the ground... Pray excuse this strong language, but, look you, this very
moment I had to stop writing owing to the vociferous “Bis! Bis!” and “Bravo! Bravo!” that rent the air and scattered the continuity of my thoughts to the four winds. You can easily imagine how these orgies irritate my sensibility, when immersed in my studies of the Bible or classics, a beautiful rhesis or eloquent chorus, ending with “Pheu! Pheu! Papai!”, is ridiculously interrupted by an Alexandria-lunged “Encore!” ― Albeit, “pax iiscum”. ― Agamemnon’s contempt for Thersites was no greater than mine is now for these. My fancy borrows the winged sandals of Hermes, ― skims the waves, and, lighting at thy side, bids thee be of good cheer for the sake Of your loving Johannisberg

DIGITAL OBJECT DESCRIPTION

IDENTITY AREA

REFERENCE CODE:

Records the unique identifier that has been appointed to the unit of description by the archivists, in order to facilitate references made to the fonds on an international level.

GR-OF CA CA-SF02-S01-SS02-F20-SF001-0011 (386)

TITLE:

Records the name of the unit of description.

Letter by John Cavafy to C. P. Cavafy

DATE(S):

Identifies the date of creation of the unit of description.

20/11/1882

LEVEL OF DESCRIPTION:

Identifies the level of arrangement of the unit of description (fonds, sub-fonds, series, sub-series, file, sub-file, item).

Item

EXTENT AND MEDIUM:

Records the extent of the unit of description. In case of an item description, it records the exact dimensions of the item.

44 x 27.5 cm

FORMER REFERENCE CODE:

Records the former identifier of the item as given by the Historical G. P. Savvidis Catalogue.

F50_Φ1-27

CONTEXT AREA

NAME OF CREATOR(S):

Identifies the author or the creator of the unit of description.

Cavafy, John

CONTENT AND STRUCTURE AREA

SCOPE AND CONTENT:

Provides a summary of the scope (such as, time periods, geography) and content of the unit of description.

Handwritten letter by John Cavafy to C. P. Cavafy on the first and third pages of two double sheet letterheads of R. J. Moss & Co., Alexandria. Pages 2-4 are numbered at top right. He comments on his poem “Arabesque” and quotes from it. Quote from a poem by Robert Browning. Update on current affairs and on the social life of Alexandria.

CONDITIONS OF ACCESS AND USE AREA

CONDITIONS GOVERNING REPRODUCTION:

Specifies the conditions governing the reproduction of the unit of description.

CC BY-SA 4.0 Cavafy Archive Onassis Foundation

LANGUAGE AND SCRIPT NOTES:

Identifies the language(s) and script(s) employed in the unit of description.

English

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS:

Provides information about important physical characteristics of the unit of description.

Writing in ink. Watermark: R. J. Moss & Co Alexandria. Physical item wear: oxidations.

NOTES AREA

NOTE:

Provides information that cannot be accommodated in any of the other fields.

The transcription and editing of the letters of John Constantine Cavafy addressed to C. P. Cavafy was first carried out by Katerina Ghika; said transcriptions were subsequently uploaded to the official website of the Cavafy Archive.

ACCESS POINTS

Key-words aiming to facilitate search within the fonds.

SUBJECTS:

Letter

Newspapers:

Egyptian Gazette, The

Works by other authors:

"An arabesque" [Cavafy, John C.]

Balaustion's Adventure [Browning, Robert]

Les Misérables [Hugo, Victor]

PLACES:

PERSONS:

Cavafy (Fotiadi), Charikleia

Cavafy, John Constantine

Cavafy, Paul

Fotiadis, George (1800-1896)

Plessou (Cavafy), Roxandra

Vella, (?)

CORPORATE BODIES:

Georgala Chrysoveloni & Co.

Polytheama Theatre (Alexandria)

Rossini Theatre (Alexandria)

FAMILIES:

Antoniadis, family

Georgala, family

CITATION:

For citation purposes, please use the reference provided here.

Cavafy, John Constantine. “Letter by John Cavafy to C. P. Cavafy”. Letter, 20.11.1882. GR-OF CA CA-SF02-S01-SS02-F20-SF001-0011 (386), Onassis Foundation C. P. Cavafy Fonds. From The Digital Collection of the Cavafy Archive, edited by Onassis Foundation, Athens, last modified 01.10.2025. https://doi.org/10.26256/CA-SF02-S01-SS02-F20-SF001-0011.