Cavafy

[poliphilo]

Cavafy lived for poetry but never published a single line. It wasn't that he tried and failed (like Dickinson or Hopkins) but that he chose not to. I guess he was simply too fastidious for the literary life.

On his 70th birthday he took a piece of paper and drew a full stop with a circle round it. Within twelve hours he was dead and buried.

I like his style.

Comments

[catvalente.livejournal.com]

Dickinson really didn't try to get her work published. She didn't care much, just wrote some letters to an editor.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Fair enough. I like her style too! :)

Stop and circle

[mtl.livejournal.com]

ad then death!

He must have known.

Re: Stop and circle

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

He had been ill- throat cancer- but even so it's quite something to be able to pinpoint the time of your own death.

I wonder how he knew.

Re: Stop and circle

[four-thorns.livejournal.com]

my great-grandfather predicted his own death too. the day of his death, he went to work and handed in a letter of resignation. when asked why, he said it was because he was going to die, and everyone thought he was crazy because he was in his 50s and in good health. then he went home and took a chair outside and sat in the yard, because in india it's considered bad luck to die in the home. his wife thought was was crazy too, and called the doctor. the doctor came over, looked him over, and said that he was fine. but my great-grandfather was convinced that he was going to die, so the doctor sat with him until the evening. around nine o'clock the doctor had had enough, and said "go back inside, you're not going to die, and i'm going home." my great-grandfather responded that he would be dead before the doctor was halfway home. and he was.

Re: Stop and circle

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That's extraordinary.

I think I'd like to go like that. There's a real dignity to it.