My favourite poet is K. P. Cavafy and my favorite poem is Ithaca:
As you set out for Ithaka
hope the voyage is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians and 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 and 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 the voyage is a long one.
May there be many a summer morning when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you come into harbors seen 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 gather stores of knowledge from their scholars.
Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you are destined for.
But do not hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you are old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you would not 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 will have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.
This translation is by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard. Cavafy is a Greek poet who lived in Alexandria in the beginning of the century. He was very shy, he never sold any of his poets. He made copies and distributed his poetry to friends only. He was a perfectionists. Reports say that he would literally work up to 20 years to a single poem, changing words, syllables or entire lines accordingly. His poetry greatly improved as he grew older. Personally, I enjoyed this version[1] by Sir Sean Connery.
Then I also admire deeply Shakespeare. To me Shakespeare is like a crossroad between, poetry, philosophy, love, wisdom. An unbelievably refreshing, well-made cocktail of thought and art.
Those two poets are the ones that touch my spirit the most :-)
As this is my favourite poem as well and you beat me to sharing it, I may as well add some context to it for the people not familiar with names and situations:
Ithaca[1] is where Odysseus[2], one of the greek heroes in the Trojan War, came from. After the war was over he set, along with his crew, to return home but this took him ten whole years and Homer wrote about his adventures and misfortunes in the epic that is known as Odyssey[3].
Now, as this consists of dangerous situations, very bad luck, betrayal and a couple of other bad things, the word "odyssey" has become one with which modern greeks describe a long and difficult period until something (a goal, a destination, etc) is reached. However, Kavafis (greek for Cavafy) turned this around and is describing all the great things that one can benefit from during such journeys: new harbours, Phoenician goods, Egyptian cities - all these pictures are used to demonstrate how rich one will be after an "odyssey" even if he/she has to face Laistrygonians, Cyclops and angry Poseidons.
In the end, Kavafis tells us about what Ithaca really is about: not reaching your destination but experiencing the journey.
Then I also admire deeply Shakespeare. To me Shakespeare is like a crossroad between, poetry, philosophy, love, wisdom. An unbelievably refreshing, well-made cocktail of thought and art.
Those two poets are the ones that touch my spirit the most :-)
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n3n2Ox4Yfk