C.P. Cavafy
(1863-1933)
Che fece ... il gran rifiuto
Translated by
Edmund Keeley & Philip Sherrard
Che fece ... il gran rifiuto
-
For some people the day comes- when they have to declare the great Yes
- or the great No. It's clear at once who has the Yes
- ready within him; and saying it,
- he goes from honor to honor, strong in his conviction.
- He who refuses does not repent. Asked again,
- he'd still say no. Yet that no-the right no-
- drags him down all his life.
NOTES:
Written July 1899.
Published August 31, 1901.
The metrical pattern of each stanza is 13-15-15-15 syllables, rhymed abba and cddc.
The title is borrowed from Dante's Inferno, iii, 60, and means "Who made . . . the great refusal." Cavafy deliberately omitted the words "per vilta"' (i.e., "because of cowardice").