Ithaka by C.P. Cavafy

When you set out on your way to Ithaka

you should hope that your journey is a long one:

A journey full of adventure, full of knowing,

Have no fear of the Laistrygones, the Cyclopes,

the frothing Poseidon. No such impediments

will confound the progress of your journey

if your thoughts take wing, if your spirit and your flesh are touched by singular sentiments.

You will not encounter Laistrygones,

nor any Cyclopes, nor a furious Poseidon,

as long as you don't carry them within you,

as long as your soul refuses to set them in your path.

Hope that your journey is a long one.

Many will be the summer mornings

upon which, with boundless pleasure and joy,

you will find yourself entering new ports of call.

You will linger in Phoenician markets

so that you may acquire the finest goods:

mother of pearl, coral and amber, and ebony,

and every manner of arousing perfume-

great quantities of arousing perfumes.

You will visit many an Egyptian city

to learn, and learn more, from those who know.

Bear Ithaka always in your thoughts.

Arriving there is the goal of your journey;

but take care not to travel too hastily.

Better to linger for years on your way;

better to reach the island's shores in old age,

enriched by all you've obtained along the way.

Do not expect that Ithaka will reward you with wealth.

Ithaka bestowed upon you the marvelous journey:

if not for her you would never have set out.

But she has nothing left to impart to you.

If you find Ithaka wanting, it's not that she's deceived you.

That you have gained so much wisdom and experience

will have told you everything of what such Ithakas mean.