fifi’s grafitti

When you set out for Ithaka
ask that your way be long,
full of adventure, full of instruction.
—- Constantine P Cavafy, 1911

One of my daily rituals at work is to listen to Garrison Keillor’s podcast, The Writer’s Almanac. I enjoy the historical and biographical trivia about artists, many whom I’d never heard of before listening.

Each day the program wraps up with a poem, which my least favorite part of this 5-minute podcast. Most of the poems sound like ramblings from my notebook, only elevated to the status of “poetry” for what reason I can’t comprehend. It may be I do not care for modern poetry. Yesterday, however, I was struck by the eternal and zen-like quality to the poem “Ithaka” by the Greek poet Cavafy. Imagine my astonishment to find the poem bore little resemblance to the original. (Compare the first few lines above to what was presented below.) Is it a mere matter of translation? According to Keillor, Cavafy wrote some of his poetry in English. Maybe the poem was edited for us of the lowest common denominator. I learned an important lesson: don’t trust what you hear on a podcast, even if it is Garrison Keillor.

Enjoy your own road to Ithaka.

When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,
pray that the road is long,
full of adventure, full of knowledge …
visit many Egyptian cities,
to learn and learn from scholars.
Always keep Ithaca in your mind.
To arrive there is your ultimate goal.
But do not hurry the voyage at all.
It is better to let it last for many years;
and to anchor at the island when you are old,
rich with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.
Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.