Ithaca

When you start on your journey to Ithaca,
Then pray that the road is long,
Full of adventure, full of knowledge.
Do not fear the lestrygonians
And the Cyclopes and the angry Poseidon

You will never meet such as these on your path
If your thought remains lofty
If a fine emotion touches your body and your spirit
You will never meet the lestrygonians,
The cyclopse and the fierce Poseidon ,
If you do not carry them within your soul,
If your soul does not raise them before you.

Then pray that the road is long
That the summer mornings are many
That you will enter ports sien for the first time
With such pleasure, with such joy!

Stop at Phoenician markets,
And purchase fine merchandise,
Mother-of-pearls and corals, amber and ebony,
And pleasurable perfumes of all kinds,
Buy as many pleasurable perfumes as you can;
Visit hosts of Egyptian cities,
To learn and learn from those who have knowledge.

Always keep Ithaca fixed in your mind
To arrive there is your goal.
But do not hurry the voyage at all.
It is better to let it last for long years;
And even to anchor at the isle when you are old,
Rich with all that you have gained on the way,
Not expecting that Ithaca will offer you richer.

Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.
Without her you would never have taken to the road,
But she has nothing more to give you.

And if you find her poor,
Ithaca has not defrauded you.
With the great wisdom you have gained,
With so much experience
You must surely understood by then what Ithaca means.
(By: Constantine Cavaty)