SOURCE: “The Language of Irony (Towards a Definition of the Poetry of Cavafy),” in Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, Vol. 5, 1979, pp. 43-56.

In the essay which follows, Vayenas attempts to settle the debate over whether Cavafy's poetry is lyric or dramatic by emphasizing the importance of verbal and situational irony in his works.

The first time André Gide heard the name of Cavafy was during his visit to Greece, in April 1939. He was talking to Dimaras, Theotokas and Seferis when the conversation turned to the poet of Alexandria. Gide asked what kind of poetry Cavafy wrote. ‘Lyrique’, Dimaras replied. ‘Didactique’, corrected Seferis. Later on Dimaras read ‘The City’ to the group. After the end of the reading Gide turned to Seferis and said: ‘Je comprends maintenant ce que vous vouliez dire par le mot didactique …’¹

Seferis was to change his definition very soon. There is no doubt that...