THE CANON

Sexual desire, political ambitio, artistic eed: Cavafy has a sigular apprehesio of how these forces make themselves felt i idividual lives. Their iexorability both ethralls ad dismays him, ad oe of the thigs that gives the poetry its rare steadiess is his ability to peetrate past circumstace ito what is sesed as fate, sesed ot oly by the poet but by his protagoists ad his readers also. We are lucky that Sratis Haviaras has bee so resposive to its bewitchig registers ad has bee able to traspose them ad afford them a extra carryig power i Eglish.