.
Dante reads the words "All hope abandon, ye who enter here" above the entrance to the Inferno: Inferno, Canto III, l.9, illustrated by Gustave Doré, 1861-1865
For some people the day comes
when they have to declare the great Yes
or the great No. It’s clear at once who has the Yes
ready within him; and saying it,
he goes forward in honour and self-assurance.
He who refuses does not repent. Asked again,
he would still say no. Yet that no -- the right no --
undermines him all his life.
Constantine P. Cavafy: Che fece ... il gran rifiuto, first published 1901; translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard in C.P. Cavafy, Collected Poems, revised edition, 1992
che fece ... il gran rifiuto: cf.
Poscia ch’io v’ebbi alcun riconosciuto,
vidi e conobbi l’ombra di colui
che fece per viltade il gran rifiuto.
(After I had recognized some among them,
I saw and knew the shade of him
who from cowardice made the great refusal.)
-- Dante, Inferno III, ll.58-60
Cavafy's title alludes to the renunciation of the papacy by Celestine V, who, five months after becoming pope in 1294, abdicated and retired to the highest mountain in Abruzzi to live the life of a hermit. This great "No" was adjudged an act of cowardice by Dante, who placed Celestine in Hell; and an act of honour by Cavafy, whose title redacts Dante's lines, editing back out again the moralistic reading-in of history.
when they have to declare the great Yes
or the great No. It’s clear at once who has the Yes
ready within him; and saying it,
he goes forward in honour and self-assurance.
He who refuses does not repent. Asked again,
he would still say no. Yet that no -- the right no --
undermines him all his life.
Constantine P. Cavafy: Che fece ... il gran rifiuto, first published 1901; translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard in C.P. Cavafy, Collected Poems, revised edition, 1992
che fece ... il gran rifiuto: cf.
Poscia ch’io v’ebbi alcun riconosciuto,
vidi e conobbi l’ombra di colui
che fece per viltade il gran rifiuto.
(After I had recognized some among them,
I saw and knew the shade of him
who from cowardice made the great refusal.)
-- Dante, Inferno III, ll.58-60
Cavafy's title alludes to the renunciation of the papacy by Celestine V, who, five months after becoming pope in 1294, abdicated and retired to the highest mountain in Abruzzi to live the life of a hermit. This great "No" was adjudged an act of cowardice by Dante, who placed Celestine in Hell; and an act of honour by Cavafy, whose title redacts Dante's lines, editing back out again the moralistic reading-in of history.
Che fece ... il gran rifiuto: Cavafy's ms., dated July 1899
Che fece … il gran rifiuto
Σε μερικούς ανθρώπους έρχεται μια μέρα
που πρέπει το μεγάλο Ναι ή το μεγάλο το Όχι
να πούνε. Φανερώνεται αμέσως όποιος τόχει
έτοιμο μέσα του το Ναι, και λέγοντάς το πέρα
πηγαίνει στην τιμή και στην πεποίθησί του.
Ο αρνηθείς δεν μετανοιώνει. Aν ρωτιούνταν πάλι,
όχι θα ξαναέλεγε. Κι όμως τον καταβάλλει
εκείνο τ’ όχι – το σωστό – εις όλην την ζωή του.
17th-18th century bridge, Kompsatos river, Thrace, Greece: photo by Ggia, 23 September 2010
Castrum Sancti angeli de Ravecanina, birthplace of Celestine V: photo by Mario Mancini, 11 May 2011
Illustration to the Divine Comedy (Inferno): Sandro Botticelli, 1480s, silverpoint on parchment, completed in pen and ink, coloured with tempera (Biblioteca Apostolica, Vatican)
This post for Vassilis
No comments:
Post a Comment