Orophernis Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABBB CBAB BDEBFBAGA CHIDJJBKA LBH BMBHAKHKHAK KKBN AAKOB| The figure on this four drachma coin | A |
| who seems to have a smile on his face | B |
| his beautiful delicate face | B |
| this figure is Orophernis son of Ariarathis | B |
| - | |
| A child they threw him out of Cappadocia | C |
| out of his great ancestral palace | B |
| and sent him to grow up in Ionia | A |
| to be forgotten there among foreigners | B |
| - | |
| Oh those exquisite Ionian nights | B |
| when fearlessly and entirely in a Greek way | D |
| he came to know sensual pleasure totally | E |
| In his heart Asiatic always | B |
| but in manners and language a Greek | F |
| with his turquoise jewellery his Greek clothes | B |
| his body perfumed with oil of jasmine | A |
| he was the most handsome the most perfect | G |
| of Ionia's handsome young men | A |
| - | |
| Later when the Syrians entered Cappadocia | C |
| and made him king | H |
| he became fully engrossed in his kingship | I |
| so as to enjoy himself in a new way each day | D |
| greedily hoarding gold and silver | J |
| delightedly gloating over | J |
| the piles of wealth glittering before his eyes | B |
| As for worrying about the country and running it | K |
| he had no idea what was going on | A |
| - | |
| The Cappadocians quickly got rid of him | L |
| and he ended up in Syria at the palace of Dimitrios | B |
| where he spent his time amusing himself and loafing | H |
| - | |
| But one day unfamiliar thoughts | B |
| broke in on his completely idle life | M |
| he remembered how through his mother Antiochis | B |
| and that old grandmother Stratoniki | H |
| he too was connected with the Syrian crown | A |
| he too almost a Selefkid | K |
| For a while he gave up lechery and drink | H |
| and ineptly half dazed | K |
| tried to start an intrigue | H |
| do something come up with a plan | A |
| but he failed pitifully and that was that | K |
| - | |
| His end must have been recorded somewhere only to be lost | K |
| or maybe history passed over it | K |
| and rightly didn't bother to notice | B |
| anything so trivial | N |
| - | |
| The figure on this four drachma coin | A |
| something of whose young charm can still be seen | A |
| a ray of his poetic beauty | K |
| this sensuous image of an Ionian boy | O |
| this is Orophernis son of Ariarathis | B |
Constantine P. Cavafy
(1)
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About Orophernis
Orophernis is a poem by Constantine P. Cavafy. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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