ΕΠΕΣΤΡΕΦΕ, ένα ποίημα του Κ.Π. Καβάφη (COME AGAIN, a poem by C.P. Cavafy)

ΕΠΕΣΤΡΕΦΕ

Ἐπέστρεφε συχνὰ καὶ παῖρνε με,
ἀγαπημένη αἴσθησις ἐπέστρεφε καὶ παῖρνε με —
ὄταν ξυπνᾶ τοῦ σώματος ἡ μνήμη,
κ’ ἐπιθυμία παληά ξαναπερνᾶ στὸ αἶμα·
ὄταν τὰ χείλη καὶ τὸ δέρμα ἐνθυμούνται,
κ’ αἰσθάνονται τὰ χέρια σὰν ν’ ἀγγίζουν πάλι.

Ἐπέστρεφε συχνὰ καὶ παῖρνε με τὴν νύχτα,
ὄταν τὰ χείλη καὶ τὸ δέρμα ἐνθυμούνται...

Κ.Π. Καβάφης, Άπαντα ποιητικά, εκδόσεις Ύψιλον, Αθήνα 1990

COME AGAIN

Come again often and carry me away,

sensation of delight, come to me often —

when in the body memory awakes,

and the blood quickens with some old desire;

when lips and skin remember, and the hands

are conscious of a touch as if they touched.

Come again often and carry me away —

when lips and skin remember, in the nigth....

Translated by John Cavafy

 

TORNA

Torna sovente e prendimi,

torna e prendimi amata sensazione —

quando il ricordo del corpo si ridesta

e trascorre nel sangue il desiderio antico;

quando labbra e [elle rammentano,

e alle mani pare di nuovo di toccare

Torna sovente e prendimi, la notte,

quando labbra e pelle rammentano...

Tratduzione di Nicola Crocetti (Costantino Cavafis POESIE EROTICHE, Crocetti Editore, Milano 1983)