Ithaca on the Passeggiata

Tim HursonRandom

mandalaMindcamp 2013 was bittersweet with the very recent passing of our much-revered friend and spiritual ancestor, Dr. Sid Parnes. He is truly Mindcamp’s “grandfather,” a very big part of why Mindcamp exists at all.

“Ithaca” by Constantine Cavafis was one of Sid Parnes’ favourite poems. We feel the experience of the Passeggiata carried a little of this vibration. Please read, savour, enjoy! Perhaps some memories from YOUR Passeggiata experience will intertwine with the layers of meaning and emotion in the poem.

You can also view many photographs from the Passeggiata here.

Ithaca
by Constantine Cavafis

As you set out for Ithaca
hope your road is a long one.
Full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclopes and 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 rare excitement stirs your spirit and body
Laistrygonians, Cyclops, wild Poseidon,
you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope your road is a long one.
May there be many sunny 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 perfumes of every kind—as many sensual perfumes as you can,
and may you visit many Egyptian cities to learn,
and to go on learning from their scholars.

Keep Ithaca always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you are destined for.
But don’t 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’ve gained
not expecting Ithaca to make you rich.

Ithaca 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,
Ithaca won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become,
so full of experiences,
you’ll have understood by then what these Ithacas mean.

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