Comments on: April 25: C.P. Cavafy’s “The Mirror in the Entrance” http://poem-a-day.knopfdoubleday.com/2011/04/25/cp-cavafy/ Knopf Doubleday Wed, 16 May 2012 19:08:01 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5.2 hourly 1 By: R. L. Lyons http://poem-a-day.knopfdoubleday.com/2011/04/25/cp-cavafy/comment-page-1/#comment-45359 R. L. Lyons Mon, 25 Apr 2011 17:50:24 +0000 http://knopfdoubleday.com/?p=16423#comment-45359 The poem by C.P. Cavafy, “The Mirror in the Entrance,” helps me recall two mirrors that faced each other in the entrance of a wonderful Italian restaurant in Agawam, Massachusetts. Those mirrors reflected me forever. As a teen, I had the good fortune to enter that ante way each day after school and full time in summer. This was my world of awakening. The Tinti family and their restaurant immersed me in world of art, music and caring feelings, the likes of which I had not experienced before. Those mirrors led me to a personal experience of European culture so vital that it drives my every thought to this very day. I was in heaven. A fourteen-foot high mural of Marco Polo presenting spaghetti to the people of Florence towered over me. A secret little alcove where young lovers became a part of a bucolic scene, said things that school never dared, and a grand piano helped me spin my simple melodies. In thanks to C.P. Cavafy: The ever-observant mirror: The sweet beauty of youth, A mature mind, Reflects Love and Life, Beyond all measure. P.S. The restaurant is closed now, but the building is preserved as a Masonic Hall. Hopefully, those two mirrors still reflect forever. The poem by C.P. Cavafy, “The Mirror in the Entrance,” helps me recall two mirrors that faced each other in the entrance of a wonderful Italian restaurant in Agawam, Massachusetts. Those mirrors reflected me forever.

As a teen, I had the good fortune to enter that ante way each day after school and full time in summer. This was my world of awakening. The Tinti family and their restaurant immersed me in world of art, music and caring feelings, the likes of which I had not experienced before.

Those mirrors led me to a personal experience of European culture so vital that it drives my every thought to this very day. I was in heaven. A fourteen-foot high mural of Marco Polo presenting spaghetti to the people of Florence towered over me. A secret little alcove where young lovers became a part of a bucolic scene, said things that school never dared, and a grand piano helped me spin my simple melodies.

In thanks to C.P. Cavafy:
The ever-observant mirror:
The sweet beauty of youth,
A mature mind,
Reflects Love and Life,
Beyond all measure.

P.S. The restaurant is closed now, but the building is preserved as a Masonic Hall. Hopefully, those two mirrors still reflect forever.

]]> By: barbara groves http://poem-a-day.knopfdoubleday.com/2011/04/25/cp-cavafy/comment-page-1/#comment-45357 barbara groves Mon, 25 Apr 2011 15:12:55 +0000 http://knopfdoubleday.com/?p=16423#comment-45357 That is beautiful. That is beautiful.

]]> By: Melvin Rosenberg http://poem-a-day.knopfdoubleday.com/2011/04/25/cp-cavafy/comment-page-1/#comment-45356 Melvin Rosenberg Mon, 25 Apr 2011 13:19:52 +0000 http://knopfdoubleday.com/?p=16423#comment-45356 It's always good to be reminded of Cafavy's mastery of an elegant melancholy. And Mendelsohn has done him justice no previous translator has. Ohnto have lived in Alexandria and to have tasted coffee at his side. It’s always good to be reminded of Cafavy’s mastery of an elegant melancholy. And Mendelsohn has done him justice no previous translator has. Ohnto have lived in Alexandria and to have tasted coffee at his side.

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