Poems on the Underground III

Longings

Like the beautiful bodies of those who died before growing old,
sadly shut away in sumpttuous mausoleum,
roses by the head, jasmine at the feet -
so appear the longings that have passed
without being satisfied, not one of the granted
a single night of pleasure, or one of its radient mornings.
C. P. Cavafy (1863 - 1933)