The God Abandons Antony

"The God Abandons Antony" (also known as "The God Forsakes Antony") is a poem by Constantine P. Cavafy, published in 1911. The poem refers to Plutarch's story of how Antony, besieged in Alexandria by Octavian, heard the sounds of instruments and voices of a procession making its way through the city, and then passed out; the god Bacchus (Dionysus), Antony's protector, was deserting him.

The poem in English, as translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard:

When suddenly, at midnight, you hear
an invisible procession going by
with exquisite music, voices,
don’t mourn your luck that’s failing now,
work gone wrong, your plans
all proving deceptive—don’t mourn them uselessly.
As one long prepared, and graced with courage,
say goodbye to her, the Alexandria that is leaving.
Above all, don’t fool yourself, don’t say
it was a dream, your ears deceived you:
don’t degrade yourself with empty hopes like these.
As one long prepared, and graced with courage,
as is right for you who proved worthy of this kind of city,
go firmly to the window
and listen with deep emotion, but not
with the whining, the pleas of a coward;
listen—your final delectation—to the voices,
to the exquisite music of that strange procession,
and say goodbye to her, to the Alexandria you are losing.

Leonard Cohen freely adapted the poem for his song "Alexandra Leaving" (Ten New Songs, 2002). Whereas Cavafy's theme was based around the city of Alexandria, Cohen's version builds around a woman named Alexandra.

External links

• English translation (by Keeley and Sherrard) of the poem at the Official Site of the Cavafy Archive