The next table | He can't be more than twenty-two

by Constantine P. Cavafy (1863 - 1933)

Translation © by Avi Sharon

Το Διπλανό Tραπέζι

Language: Greek (Ελληνικά)

Our translations: FRE

Θάναι μόλις είκοσι δυο ετών.
Κι όμως εγώ είμαι βέβαιος που, σχεδόν τα ίσα
χρόνια προτήτερα, το ίδιο σώμα αυτό το απήλαυσα.

Δεν είναι διόλου έξαψις ερωτισμού.
Και μοναχά προ ολίγου μπήκα στο καζίνο.
δεν είχα ούτε ώρα για να πιώ πολύ.
Το ίδιο σώμα εγώ το απήλαυσα.

Κι αν δεν θυμούμαι, πού — ένα ξέχασμά μου δεν σημαίνει.

A τώρα, να, που κάθησε στο διπλανό τραπέζι
γνωρίζω κάθε κίνησι που κάμνει — κι απ’ τα ρούχα κάτω
γυμνά τ’ αγαπημένα μέλη ξαναβλέπω.

Show a transliteration: DIN | ISO 843

Note on Transliterations

Text Authorship:

by Constantine P. Cavafy (1863 - 1933), "Το Διπλανό Tραπέζι" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

[ None yet in the database ]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in English, a translation by Avi Sharon , "The next table", copyright © FRE ; composed by William Bolcom.

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "La table d'à côté", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2012-06-09
Line count: 11
Word count: 83

The next table

Language: English after the Greek (Ελληνικά)

He can't be more than twenty-two
 [ ... ]

This text may be copyright, so we will not display it until we obtain permission to do so or discover it is public-domain.

Text Authorship:

by Avi Sharon , "The next table", copyright © [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Greek (Ελληνικά) by Constantine P. Cavafy (1863 - 1933), "Το Διπλανό Tραπέζι"
- Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by William Bolcom (b. 1938), "The next table", 2001, first performed 2002 [ baritone and piano ], from Old Addresses, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]

This text was added to the website: 2010-11-02
Line count: 11
Word count: 92