A POET'S NOTEBOOK

A POET'S NOTEBOOK

C.P. Cavafy : "Waiting for the Barbarians"

translated by Edmund Keeley

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The Friend
Mar 27, 2023
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Waiting for the Barbarians

What are we waiting for, assembled in the forum?

      The barbarians are due here today.

Why isn’t anything going on in the senate?
Why are the senators sitting there without legislating?

      Because the barbarians are coming today.
      What’s the point of senators making laws now?
      Once the barbarians are here, they’ll do …

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