Ιθάκη...

Ithaca

As you set out for Ithaca

hope that your journey is a long one,

full of adventure, full of discovery.

Laistrygonians and Cyclops,

angry Poseidon-don't be afraid of them:

you'll never find things like that on your way

as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,

as long as a rare sensasion

touches your spirit and your body.

Laistrygonians and Cyclops,

wild Poseidon-you won't encounter them

unless you bring them along inside your soul,

unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope that your journey is a long one.

May there be many summer mornings when,

with what pleasure, what joy,

you come into harbors you're seeing for the first time;

may you stop at Phoenician trading stations

to buy fine things,

mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,

sensual perfume of every kind-

as many sensual perfumes as you can;

and may you visit many Egyptian cities

to learn and learn again from those who know.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.

Arriving there is what you're destined for.

But don't hurry the journey at all.

Better if it lasts for years,

so that you're old by the time you reach the island,

wealthy with all you've gained on the way,

not expecting Ithaca to make you rich.

Ithaca gave you the marvelous journey.

Without her you would have not set out.

She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaca won't have fooled you.

Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,

you'll have understood by then what these Ithacas mean.

(Ο Sean Connery είναι από τις αγαπημένες μου φωνές και μορφές και νιώθω πολύ τυχερή που το έχω δει και του έχω μιλήσει απο κοντά. Ιούλιος 1999, Εδιμβούργο, παγκόσμια πρεμιέρα του Entrapment, τη μέρα που η Βασίλισσα Ελισάβετ ΙΙ τον έστεψε Sir. Όταν του είπα πως είμαι Ελληνίδα μου είπε για την Ιθάκη... 33 μέρες ακόμα )