At the noisy end of the cafe, head bent
over the table, an old man sits alone,
a newspaper in front of him
These are the opening lines of the poem An Old Man by C.P. Cavafy. The lines set the scene of the poem. An old man is sitting alone at the end table of a noisy cafe, his head bent on the table and he has the company of only his newspaper. He is lost in deep thoughts of having wasted his youth when he had looks, strength and wits.
Perhaps the light will prove another tyranny.
Who knows what new things it will expose?
These are the concluding lines of the poem The Windows by C.P. Cavafy. The poet is trapped in a dark room and is trying to find a window from where some light can be let in but he is unable to find the windows. He ends the poem by saying that perhaps it was good that he could not find any windows as light might prove to be another kind of power which can expose unknown things.
Whenever a customer comes into the shop,
he brings out other things to sell - first class ornaments:
bracelets, chains, necklaces, rings.
These are the closing lines of the poem For the Shop by C.P. Cavafy. The poem depicts that a goldsmith keeps his bold, skillful work hidden in a safe instead of showing it to his potential customers. He is so much in love with his own work that he cannot part ways with his work. So, when a customer comes to his shop, he displays before them other things to sell.
