It’s been a while since I’ve done a close reading of a poem, in detail (since school, really). But I accomplish the basis of this when I read now, and deconstruct in my mind novels and short stories to hopefully learn the lessons that the author wants to convey to me. I wanted to pick one of my favorite poems, one that is from a lesser-known poet (to Western audiences)—mostly to motivate the process.
Σ' εβένινο κρεββάτι στολισμένο On an ebony bed decorated με κοραλλένιους αετούς, βαθυά κοιμάται with coral eagles, sleeps deeply ο Νέρων -- ασυνείδητος, ήσυχος, κ' ευτυχής; Nero -- unconscious, tranquil, and blissful; ακμαίος μες στην ευρωστία της σαρκός, thriving in the vigor of flesh, και στης νεότητος τ' ωραίο σφρίγος. and in the splendid power of youth.
Cavafy is known for his simple but elegant style, and his deep understanding of and influence that history has on his works. Here he states it matter-of-factly: the ebony bed was decorated (with coral eagles, is the next line), but it’s an ebony bed. One bed, alone, and the bed is ebony, from the adjective form of εβένος (evenos).
The line βαθυά κοιμάται transliterated is “deep sleeps”, but the implication is that the subject of the next line, Nero (Emperor Nero, who was known in Greek as Νέρων—Neron) is sleeping deeply. The break is intentional, to prepare you for the next line: Nero is unconscious, tranquil, and blissful. He is unconscious, and blissfully unaware of what’s about to happen to him. This is commonly reported by contemporaries: Tacitus claims that the Roman people thought him “compulsive and corrupt”, and that they believed the Great Fire of Rome was intentionally started by him in order to clear land for his planned palace.
But of course, we see that he is not alone: Nero has thrived in the company of others, and in the splendid power of young men. νεότητος (neotitos)—is in masculine form. ωραίο (oraio) pulls a little sleight of hand here, performing double duty for the description of the vigor, and the description of the boys Nero is with (because the word’s in the neuter form). Cavafy was a gay man, and the erotic and historical overlaps quite often in his work—but as always, it’s seamless. Your fave author wishes they could world-build as well.
No one is prepared for what is coming next. Cavafy gives us a line break here, in order to space the ideas apart.
Αλλά στην αίθουσα την αλαβάστρινη που κλείνει But in the alabaster hall that encloses των Αηνοβάρβων το αρχαίο λαράριο the Aenobarbi's ancient shrine τι ανήσυχοι που είν' οι Λάρητές του. how restive are his Lares. Τρέμουν οι σπιτικοί μικροί θεοί, The little household gods tremble, και προσπαθούν τ' ασήμαντά των σώματα να κρύψουν. and try to hide their insignificant bodies.
Cavafy tells us, specifically, that something is coming. Not everyone is so tranquil and resting as Nero and the young men he shares his bed with. Again, he lingers on the description. The place where Nero sleeps doesn’t just have an ebony bed, but there’s an alabaster hall, as well. These were typical signs of great wealth of the time: ebony in the classical period came from India, and cost enormous amounts of money to export to Rome. Alabaster in the Roman Empire likely would’ve come from Egypt, known as calcite, and was often decorative and applied on walls, rather than forming the structure. The base would likely be brick or cut-stone. Its malleable form allows it to be carved and worked very easily, and formed the basis for the decoration on the walls. As you can imagine, a hall covered entirely in alabaster would’ve cost a fair chunk.
This section tells us that within the alabaster hall, which was likely built after this ancient shrine, that the Aenobarbi (Ahenobarbus, ‘red-beard’, lit. ‘bronze-beard’) - which were Nero’s ancestors1 - the household gods (the Lares, in this case the Ahenobarbi themselves) were trembling at what was approaching. He builds up the tension through the juxtaposition of the previous section. The Ahenobarbi try to hide their insignificant bodies from the threat that is coming—as in, they’re not going to be of any use in the furor to come. This calls parallels, of course, Cavafy’s struggle as a gay man in a period when homosexuality was illegal and gay men were brutalized by the police. Cavafy shares that feeling of being like Nero in his alabaster palace, coming down from the high of sharing a bed with young men. But it’s not to last: all good things must come to an end, and an end is certainly coming.
Γιατί άκουσαν μια απαίσια βοή, For they heard a horrible clamor, θανάσιμη βοή την σκάλα ν' ανεβαίνει, a deathly clamor ascending the stair, βήματα σιδερένια που τραντάζουν τα σκαλιά. iron footsteps rattling the stairs.
A horrible clamor approaches—a deathly clamor approaches. The repetition here reinforces the atmosphere. Iron footsteps shake the stairs, and we can imagine they shake the walls and everything around them. There are multiple iron-clad feet—σιδερένια (siderenia, from sideros: iron) is the plural form. The period between the next word “And…” punctuates the previous sentence. Our attention is drawn to the iron footsteps—they mean everything, and they destroy everything in their path.
Και λιγοθυμισμένοι τώρα οι άθλιοι Λάρητες, And fainting now the miserable Lares, μέσα στο βάθος του λαράριου χώνονται, burrow in the depth of the shrine, ο ένας τον άλλονα σκουντά και σκουντουφλά, one tumbles and stumbles upon the other, ο ένας μικρός θεός πάνω στον άλλο πέφτει one little god falls over the other
The Lares faint and burrow deeper into the shrine, fleeing the human-like shaking and trembling of the hall and the stairs. Fat lot of good the ancestral spirits can be against the fury of these iron footsteps. We’re building up to something huge here, and Nero and the young men he shares his bed with still have no idea what’s coming.
γιατί κατάλαβαν τι είδος βοή είναι τούτη, for they understand what sort of clamor this is, τάνοιωσαν πια τα βήματα των Εριννύων. they are already feeling the footsteps of the Furies.
The Lares understand, being gods themselves, that the fury of the iron footsteps carries the weight of fanatical retribution. Through omission, we understand that Nero and his young men don’t feel the same—or perhaps don’t want to. They want to stay unconscious, blissful, and tranquil.
The Furies (Ερινυες, Erinyes) are coming. They hunted sinners: three goddesses of vengeance that punished those that went against the natural order, but specifically, offenses against the gods. Of course, Nero is being punished for his homosexuality here, for his flagrant eroticism and the sin of letting himself be comfortable; letting his guard down. In such a way, we see Cavafy’s own struggle with his sexuality. It’s a theme that still strikes home today (certainly given my own feelings on the matter as a bisexual man who is married to a woman).
Of course, the beauty of the poem is that it can be read in many different ways. Nero’s retribution came for him when he was declared public enemy and condemned to death in AD 68, when the Roman senator Vindex rebelled. He fled Rome, and on 9 June AD 68 he committed suicide, and is remembered not terribly fondly for his ‘corruption’. Cavafy presents a much more favorable view of Nero here, casting his ‘corruption’ as eroticism, and (though still behind closed doors and secreted away) an undeniable gay man. Roman society viewed homosexuality as sinful, so Cavafy presents Nero’s criticism and pillorying as a reaction to that—and perhaps the origin of the nasty rumors that he started the Great Fire. An evergreen comparison: it draws obvious parallels to propaganda that is still vomited today, that gay men are corrupt and damaged in some way, and responsible for many of society’s ills.
If you liked this deconstruction, please let me know. Or if you think I got something wrong (which is certain), please tell me below.
NCK
Nero was born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, and his father was Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, Augustus’s great-nephew, where the cognomen Ahenobarbus denotes a moniker (‘bronze-beard’), but one of the most well-known of the early Imperial Period. Such a storied family would necessarily have a shrine to their ancestors, and Nero would have it in pride of place, in his alabaster hall.