As you set out for Ithaca
hope the voyage is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops
angry Poseidon - be not afraid
you'll never find them in your way
so long as your thoughts are high
and a rare excitement
still stirs your body and spirit.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
wild Poseidon - you won't encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them in front of you.
Hope the voyage is a long one.
May there be many a summer morning when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you come in to harbors unseen
may you stop at Phoenician traders
and buy fine things
mother of pearl, coral, amber and ebony,
sensuous perfumes of every kind
as many as you can
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
and gather knowledge from the scholars.
Keep Ithaca always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you are destined for
But hurry not the journey at all
better it last for years
so you are old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaca to give you riches.
For Ithaca gave you the marvelous journey
without her you would not have set out
She has nothing more to give you now.
And if you find Ithaca poor, Ithaca won't have fooled you
Wise as you have become, so full of experience,
you would have understood by then
what these Ithacas mean....
- Constantine P Cavafy
(Original Greek Poem)
