June 17, 2011

Keep the windows open




Speak not of guilt, speak not of responsibility. When the Regiment of the Senses parades by, with music, and with banners; when the senses shiver and shudder, it is only a fool and an irreverent person that will keep his distance, who will not embrace the good cause, marching towards the conquest of pleasures and passions.

All of morality’s laws – poorly understood and applied – are nil and cannot stand even for a moment, when the Regiment of the Senses parades by, with music, and with banners.

Do not permit any shadowy virtue to hold you back. Do not believe that any obligation binds you. Your duty is to give in, to always give in to Desires, these most perfect creatures of the perfect gods. Your duty is to enlist as a faithful footman, with simplicity of heart, when the Regiment of the Senses parades by, with music, and with banners.

Do not confine yourself at home, misleading yourself with theories of justice, with the preconceptions of reward, held by an imperfect society. Do not say, Such is my toil’s worth and such is my due to savor. Just as life is an inheritance, and you did nothing to earn it as a recompense, so should Sensual Pleasure be. Do not shut yourself at home; but keep the windows open, open wide, so as to hear the first sound of the passing of the soldiers, when the Regiment of the Senses arrives, with music, and with banners.

Do not be deceived by the blasphemers who tell you that the service is dangerous and laborious. The service of sensual pleasure is a constant joy. It does exhaust you, but it exhausts you with inebriations sublime. And finally, when you collapse in the street, even then your fortune is enviable. When your funeral will pass by, the Forms to which your desires gave shape will shower lilacs and white roses upon your coffin, young Olympian Gods will bear you on their shoulders, and you will be buried in the Cemetery of the Ideal, where the mausoleums of poetry gleam conspicuously white.  

C.P. Cavafy, The Regiment of the Senses, Hidden  (1877 - 1923)


ΥΓ1: Η Mary Roach συγγραφέας του περίφημου Bonk  παρουσιάζει δέκα εκπληκτικούς ισχυρισμούς, που εκτείνονται από το περίεργο μέχρι το πολύ αστείο.















ΥΓ2: Οπωσδήποτε click στην εικόνα, στο video και στα 5 links

:)


 


6 comments:

Bitch said...

Did you read my heart?
Eternal poet Cavafy !!!

negentropist said...

Eternal .. by all means, dear e-friend :))

The pawn

Obscene post

Have a nice week

:)

Natalia said...

το Σύνταγμα της ηδονής ε?

κι αυτό με σημαίες και μουσικές είναι...

υγ πάντως καμία σχέση το αγγλικό κείμενο με το αριστουργηματικό δικό μας..

summer solstice αύριο...

negentropist said...

Είναι υπέροχη η ελληνική γλώσσα .. όμως δεν παύει να είναι ένα μέσο, ένας κώδικας, που σε τελική ανάλυση περιγράφει ατελώς και με ελλείψεις ότι αντιλαμβανόμαστε :)

Μου αρέσουν και oι ΔΥΟ εκδοχές ( ελληνικό πρωτότυπο και αγγλική μετάφραση ) .. έχω τη γνώμη ότι η μετάφραση Σαββίδη δεν αφαιρεί, αλλά αντίθετα προσφέρει συμπληρωματικά επιπλέον "εικόνες" !

θερινό ηλιοστάσιο, 21 Ιουνίου 2011

Γειά σου, Ναταλία !

:)

Εκείνη.. said...

υ π έ ρ ο χ ο κείμενο!

λατρεύω την ελληνική γλώσσα, αλλά είναι εκπληκτικό αυτό που μόλις διάβασα...

Την καλησπέρα μου! :)

negentropist said...

Εκείνη... χαίρομαι που σου άρεσε η συγκεκριμένη εκδοχή !

Καλησπέρα, με τις αξέχαστες .. σπάνιες γαίες :)

Rare Earth - Get ready

γεια !