Very Rare! 1917 GRAMMATA, Alexandria, Constantine P. Cavafy, First Publication of 4 Poems! Stefanos Pargas

Description

C. P. Cavafy’s first publication of the poems:

Γκρίζα – Griza – Grey

Ιασή Τάφος  – Iasi Tafos – Tomb of Iases

Εν τω μηνί Αθύρ  – Εn to mini Athyr — In the month of Athyr

Έτσι πολύ ατένισα  – Etsi poly atenisa  – So long I gazed

in the

Literary Magazine

GRAMMATA  – LETTERS (Alexandria)

Volume IV, leaflets 37

Editor & Director Stefanos Pargas

 

Printed by Kasimatis in Alexandria in 1917

8vo

Pamphlet 37

January-May 1917, p. f+200+f. 2 advertisements

Original Paper Binding

First Edition

Konstantinos Petrou Kavafis (1863 – 1933), known as Constantine P. Cavafy and often published as C. P. Cavafy  was a Greek poet, journalist, and civil servant from Alexandria in Egypt. His work, as one translator put it, holds the historical and the erotic in a single embrace. He is known for his prosaic use of metaphors, his brilliant use of historical imagery, and his aesthetic perfectionism. These attributes, amongst others, have assured him an enduring place in the literary pantheon of the Western World.

When you realise that most Cavafy poems were written in the early 20th century, it strikes you how honest some of them are about gay love. When other poets used metaphors and hints, Kavafis (Cavafis) tells it straight (pun intended).