One of Their Gods

[orchid314]

This poem always gives me chills.

One of Their Gods by Constantine Cavafy

When one of Them passed through Seleucia's
market place, toward the hour when night comes on,
in the guise of a tall and perfectly handsome youth,
with the joy of incorruptibility in his eyes,
with his black, heavily perfumed hair,
the passers-by would stare at him
and one would ask the other if he knew him,
if he were a Greek of Syria or a stranger. But
several who watched with greater attention
understood and would stand aside;
and as he vanished under the arcades,
among the shadows and among the evening lights,
heading toward the district which comes alive
only at night, with orgies and debauchery,
and every sort of drunkenness and lust,
they would wonder which of Them he might be,
and for what questionable enjoyment
he had descended to the streets of Seleucia
from those Adored, Most Venerable Halls.


tr. Rae Dalven