In a room—empty, small, four walls only,
covered with green cloth—
a beautiful chandelier burns, all fire;
and in each of its flames a sensual fever,
a lascivious urge, glows with heat.
In the small room, radiantly lit
by the chandelier’s hot fire,
no ordinary light breaks out.
Not for timid bodies
the rapture of this heat.
Reprinted from C.P. CAVAFY: Collected Poems Revised Edition, translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard, edited by George Savidis. Translation copyright © 1975, 1992 by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard. Princeton University Press. For reuse of these translations, please contact Princeton University Press.
The Canon