Ithaca is a greek island generally identified as the home of Odysseus, whose delayed return to the island is the subject of Homer’s the Odyssey.
As you set out for Ithaca
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon – don’t be afraid of them:
you’ ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon – you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.
Hope your road is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you enter harbours you’re seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind -
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and go on learning from their scholars.
Keep Ithaca always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
But don’t hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you’re old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaca to make you rich.
Ithaca gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn’t have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.
And if you find her poor, Ithaca won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you’ll have understood by then this is the meaning of Ithaca.
K. Kavafis, (Greek Κωνσταντίνος Π. Καβάφης) (April 29, 1863 – April 29, 1933)
Once you set out for Ithaca –
Your road was a long one
full of adventure, full of discovery.
(…)
You kept Ithaca always in your mind.
And now, arriving here, is what you were destined for.
Ithaca –
Don’t be surprised to meet here Calliope – the wisest and oldest of all muses. She will give you her writing tablet and ask: “Why is a raven like a writing desk?”
Tell her of the beautiful-voiced and sacred bird who once had snowy white feathers. Tell her how the Raven wanted to get some water from the God’s cup and failed, so, lost his voice…
And yes, don’t be surprised, if the Muse asks to you, who told you all these wonders… But don’t hurry with the answer. Just draw a circle on the writing tablet and give it back to Calliope…
If you hope to meet Urania in Ithaca, you waste your time. The Muse of Stars left an island many years ago. Since then Ithaca is poor, she has nothing left to give you now… But don’t be upset! You created a form, now ask the blooming Muse of comedy to fill it with beauty! But when she laughs, laugh with her… Thalia’s beauty is her laughter. http://twitpic.com/17znrl
’’Σα βγεις στον πηγαιμό για την Ιθάκη,
να εύχεσαι νά ‘ναι μακρύς ο δρόμος,
γεμάτος περιπέτειες, γεμάτος γνώσεις.
Τους Λαιστρυγόνες και τους Κύκλωπας,
τον θυμωμένο Ποσειδώνα μη φοβάσαι,
τέτοια στον δρόμο σου ποτέ σου δεν θα βρεις,
αν μέν’ η σκέψης σου υψηλή,
αν εκλεκτή συγκίνησης το πνεύμα και το σώμα σου αγγίζει. Τους Λαιστρυγόνες και τους Κύκλωπας,
τον άγριο Ποσειδώνα δεν θα συναντήσεις,
αν δεν τους κουβανείς μες στην ψυχή σου,
αν η ψυχή σου δεν τους στήνει εμπρός σου.
Να εύχεσαι νά ‘ναι μακρύς ο δρόμος.
Πολλά τα καλοκαιρινά πρωία να είναι
που με τι ευχαρίστησι, με τι χαρά
θα μπαίνεις σε λιμένας πρωτοειδωμένους·
να σταματήσεις σ’ εμπορεία Φοινικικά,
και τες καλές πραγμάτειες ν’ αποκτήσεις,
σεντέφια και κοράλλια, κεχριμπάρια κ’ έβενους,
και ηδονικά μυρωδικά κάθε λογής,
όσο μπορείς πιο άφθονα ηδονικά μυρωδικά·
σε πόλεις Αιγυπτιακές πολλές να πας,
να μάθεις και να μάθεις απ’ τους σπουδασμένους.
Πάντα στον νου σου νάχεις την Ιθάκη.
Το φθάσιμον εκεί είν’ ο προορισμός σου.
Αλλά μη βιάζεις το ταξίδι διόλου.
Καλλίτερα χρόνια πολλά να διαρκέσει·
και γέρος πια ν’ αράξεις στο νησί,
πλούσιος με όσα κέρδισες στον δρόμο,
μη προσδοκώντας πλούτη να σε δώσει η Ιθάκη.
Η Ιθάκη σ’ έδωσε το ωραίο ταξίδι.
Χωρίς αυτήν δεν θάβγαινες στον δρόμο.
Άλλο δεν έχει να σε δώσει πια.
Κι αν πτωχική την βρεις, η Ιθάκη δεν σε γέλασε.
Έτσι σοφός που έγινες, με τόση πείρα,
ήδη θα το κατάλαβες η Ιθάκες τι σημαίνουν.’’
Thank you Paulo for publishing this wonderfull Greek poem and also all the greek people that mensioned details about K.Kavafis and translating the poem.
It’s one of the greatest poems written by a great poet K.Kavafis.
I think everyone should have this lines as a guide to our lives.
Love
Evi
tackasliancadeau
:)
these poem is so beautiful i just found it interesting because i want to travel around the world because i thing my city of birth is not as those big cities that you see in television and i was living somewhere else and i learned that while you are far from home you learn a lot but home is HOME and will always be waiting for you..
to: paulo coehlo
sr. ì ` started reading your book the alquimist and it made me think diferent about my life and the goals i have thank you for writing these amazing things that guide us to a better life .
gabriela vargas from mexico
It’s so wonderful^^
If you like this specific poem (about traveling and reaching a destination in life), I recomend you to read NIKOS KAVADIAS poems. He was a sailor, working in the wireless in merchant ships from the 1930’s to the 1970’s. His poems reflect the true, down to earth experiences, with a sense of hope, imagination and reality. The poems are strong to the heart, but rich in linguistic expressions and feelings. For me his poems are ‘true’, taken out from his life experiences. He was considered underground poet and became known only after his death.
The first few lines of this poem are being used in an advert on TV for a car!!
Breda
Eu já disse aqui antes: é meu poema preferido, deu nome ao meu blog e blá, blá :)
Quando conheci, ainda menina, a trajatória de Odisseu e seu empenho inabalável para voltar para casa, sabia que minha visão das coisas mudaria determinantemente dali por diante.
A tenacidade e a perseverança são sempre favoráveis… e tudo que buscamos, cada qual à sua maneira, é voltar para casa.
Deixo pra ti outra Ítaca, a de Manuel Alegre:
Ítaca estava dentro: era uma luz um rosto um cheiro
a sombra em certas tardes na sala de jantar
ou o teu sorriso debaixo da ameixieira.
Um sítio. Um sítio sagrado algures no tempo.
Um sítio por dentro. Um obscuro ponto
no mapa luminoso
do coração.
Para sempre só teu
para sempre escondido.
Como Ulisses ninguém volta ao que perdeu
como Ulisses não serás reconhecido.
2.
Não vale a pena suportar tanto castigo.
Procuras Ítaca. Mas só há esse procurar.
Onde quer que te encontres está contigo
dentro de ti em casa na distância
onde quer que procures há outro mar
Ítaca é tua própria errância.
Obrigada, Sr. Paulo! Saudações.