Ithaka

　　As you set out for Ithaka

　　hope your journey is a long one,

　　full of adventure, full of discovery.

　　Laistrygonians, Cyclops,

　　angry Poseidon-dont be afraid of them:

　　youll 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 spiritand your body.

　　Laistrygonians, Cyclops,

　　wild Poseidon-you wont encounter them

　　unless you bring them along inside your soul,

　　unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

　　Hope your journey is a long one.

　　May there be many summer mornings when,

　　with what pleasure, what joy,

　　you enter harborsyoure 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 perfume of every kind-

　　as many sensual perfumes as you can;

　　and may you visit many Egyptian cities

　　to learn and go on learning from their scholars.

　　Keep Ithaka always in your mind.

　　Arriving there is what youre destinedfor.

　　But dont hurry the journey at all.

　　Better if it lasts for years,

　　so youre old by the time you reach the island,

　　wealthy with all youve gained on the way,

　　not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

　　Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.

　　Without her you wouldnt have set out.

　　She has nothing left to give you now.

　　And if you find her poor, Ithaka wont have fooled you.

　　Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,

　　youll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

　　Constantine P. Cavafy

　　Ithaka

　　As you set out for Ithaka

　　hope your journey is a long one,

　　full of adventure, full of discovery.

　　Laistrygonians, Cyclops,

　　angry Poseidon-dont be afraid of them:

　　youll 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 spiritand your body.

　　Laistrygonians, Cyclops,

　　wild Poseidon-you wont encounter them

　　unless you bring them along inside your soul,

　　unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

　　Hope your journey is a long one.

　　May there be many summer mornings when,

　　with what pleasure, what joy,

　　you enter harborsyoure 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 perfume of every kind-

　　as many sensual perfumes as you can;

　　and may you visit many Egyptian cities

　　to learn and go on learning from their scholars.

　　Keep Ithaka always in your mind.

　　Arriving there is what youre destinedfor.

　　But dont hurry the journey at all.

　　Better if it lasts for years,

　　so youre old by the time you reach the island,

　　wealthy with all youve gained on the way,

　　not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

　　Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.

　　Without her you wouldnt have set out.

　　She has nothing left to give you now.

　　And if you find her poor, Ithaka wont have fooled you.

　　Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,

　　youll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

　　Constantine P. Cavafy