Can't say I was blown away by this tiny selection from Cavafy, whom I've wanted to read for over a decade now. Unsure if that's due to the choices made for this edition, the translation (the book contains the original Greek, which I don't understand but am able to transliterate), or the poetry itself, which seems somehow 'dated' in my opinion: slow and seemingly unremarkable to a modern reader.

I suppose Cavafy isn't known for his elaborate language either; this is matter-of-fact, rather unsentimental realism. Still, Cavafy does manage to convey the sense of oppressiveness and the always furtive motions homosexuals must have gone through in his era, and -- knowing this is often still the case in a lot of places -- that does add an extra layer of tension and meaningfulness; it certainly brings home the message. Viewed this way, these snippets (all the poems are extremely short) do become the bleakest, saddest love poems one could come across -- a muffled scream full of impossible passion. Three stars instead of two because of that. ( )