{"id":960,"date":"2009-06-03T11:57:00","date_gmt":"2009-06-03T11:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2009\/06\/ithaka\/"},"modified":"2011-11-01T15:09:44","modified_gmt":"2011-11-01T19:09:44","slug":"ithaka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2009\/06\/ithaka.html","title":{"rendered":"Ithaka"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/iframe>\n<\/p>As you set out for Ithaka hope the voyage is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery. Laistrygonians and Cyclops, angry Poseidon\u2014don\u2019t be afraid of them: you\u2019ll 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\u2014you won\u2019t encounter them unless you bring them along inside your soul, unless your soul sets them up in front of you.<\/p>\nHope 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\u2014 as many sensual perfumes as you can; and may you visit many Egyptian cities to gather stores of knowledge from their scholars.<\/p>\nKeep 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.<\/p>\nIthaka gave you the marvelous journey. Without her you would not have set out. She has nothing left to give you now.<\/p>\nAnd if you find her poor, Ithaka won\u2019t have fooled you. Wise as you will have become, so full of experience, you will have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.<\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cavafy.com\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Constantine Petrou Cavafy<\/a><\/p>\nTranslated by Edmund Keeley\/Philip Sherrard<\/p>\nthank you, Richard!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"blogger-post-footer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/33904114-7969967927436467224?l=monkeymindonline.blogspot.com\" alt=\"\"><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As you set out for Ithakahope the voyage is a long one,full of adventure, full of discovery.Laistrygonians and Cyclops,angry Poseidon\u2014don\u2019t be afraid of them:you\u2019ll never find things like that on your wayas long as you keep your thoughts raised high,as long as a rare excitementstirs your spirit and your body.Laistrygonians and Cyclops,wild Poseidon\u2014you won\u2019t encounter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>Ithaka<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As you set out for Ithakahope the voyage is a long one,full of adventure, full of discovery.Laistrygonians and Cyclops,angry Poseidon\u2014don\u2019t be afraid of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2009\/06\/ithaka.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ithaka\" \/>\n<meta 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