Analysis of Antony's Ending

Constantine P. Cavafy 1863 (Alexandria) – 1933 (Alexandria)



But when he heard the women wailing,
lamenting his sorry state
madam with her oriental gestures
and her slaves with their barbarized Greek
the pride in his soul rose up,
his Italian blood sickened with disgust
and all he'd worshipped blindly till then
his wild Alexandrian life
now seemed dull and alien.
And he told them 'to stop wailing for him,
that kind of thing was all wrong.
They ought to be singing his praises
for having been a great ruler,
a rich, heroic man.
And if he'd fallen now, he hadn't fallen humbly,
but as a Roman vanquished by a Roman.'


Scheme ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOI
Poetic Form
Metre 111101010 0101101 101001010 0011111 0101111 1010110101 011101011 1111 1110100 0111111011 1111111 111110110 11010110 010101 0111011101010 11010101010
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 550
Words 105
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 16
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 440
Words per stanza (avg) 102
Font size:
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

32 sec read
49

Constantine P. Cavafy

Constantine P. Cavafy was a Greek poet who lived in Alexandria and worked as a journalist and civil servant. He published 154 poems; dozens more remained incomplete or in sketch form. His most important poetry was written after his fortieth birthday. more…

All Constantine P. Cavafy poems | Constantine P. Cavafy Books

0 fans

Discuss this Constantine P. Cavafy poem analysis with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Antony's Ending" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 2 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/7113/antony%27s-ending>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    June 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    28
    days
    5
    hours
    57
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    A haiku has ________ lines.
    A 2
    B 4
    C 3
    D 5