"Ithaka" by Constantine P. Cavafy

As you set out for Ithaka
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope your road is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you enter harbors you’re seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind—
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and go on learning from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
But don’t hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you’re old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn't have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

This poem is the first one to be featured in my Poetry Periodical that was not originally written in English, and I am so glad to have it here. Let’s dive in.

In my own words, I would translate the poem as follows:

‘As you go through your life, hope only that it is long, full of adventure and new experiences. Don’t be afraid of any man-eating giants, monsters with a vendetta against you, or angry gods who want to see you suffer. As long as you keep your gaze up, your thoughts aimed at the highest values to which you can aspire, and you feel filled with the excitement of life, you will not encounter these obstacles. The only reason you would encounter them is if you bring them about yourself.

‘Hope that your life’s journey is a long one. You should hope that there will many beautiful days filled with pleasures of the senses, such as luxurious perfumes and fine goods made of mother of pearl and coral. May you find new places where you can go on always learning new things.

‘Don’t forget that someday you will die. You are destined to do that at some time. But make the journey last, and fill it with as much as you can. Make yourself rich with experience, and don’t expect that when you arrive at the end of your journey, you will become rich then.

‘It is because we are destined to die that life is marvelous. Without that destination looming on the horizon, you would never do anything. Death, the destination of your long journey, as well as goals, the destinations of shorter journeys, don’t have anything to offer you right now.

‘And if you find the destination doesn’t meet with your expectations, death will not have fooled you. You will have spent your time becoming wise with experience, and by the time you reach the end of your life—your destination—you will understand what it means to you, even if the destination is different from what you always expected.’

I was reminded of this poem today while I was talking with my husband about a book he is reading. The book is about “deprogramming” perfectionistic thoughts, and Kyle was illustrating to me one of the points the author makes: that we often like to think of the ideal life as being a ride on a luxurious yacht, but that it is actually more like a one-man kayak. We want to relax on our way, feeling calm and at peace, but nobody actually lives like that. If they did, it would be boring. In reality, we all feel like we are steering our one-man canoe down a river, and we don’t know what lies around the bend. One day we will crash and die. It is certain. But in the meantime, what we can do is try to enjoy that ride.

I was reminded of this poem because it is clearly consistent with this way of looking at life. It is what we do within the time we have that matters—with what attitude we approach the rapids, and how we enjoy the relaxing stretches of calm water. Not the crash. The content of the journey matters so much more than whatever plans we imagine for ourselves in the future. It matters so much more that the journey be long and exciting than successful or meaningful to others. If it is long, if it is filled with adventure, if you never stop learning new things, then it is great. Even if you never change the world.

I hope your road is a long one.