Constantine P. Cavafy

The poet Cavafy was born in Alexandria to Greek parents. After his father's death when Cavafy was a child, the family lost their fortune and social position. They lived for seven years in England, where Cavafy was greatly

In Despair

by Constantine P. Cavafy (1863–1933)

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16

He's lost him completely. And he now tries to find

his lips in the lips of each new lover,

he tries in the embrace of each new lover

to convince himself that it's the same young man,

that it's to him he gives himself.

 He's lost him completely, as though he never existed. 
 He wanted, his lover said, to save himself 
 from the tainted, sick form of sexual pleasure, 
 the tainted, shameful form of sexual pleasure. 

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