Che fece .... il gran rifiuto

by

Constantine Cavafy


To certain people there comes a day

when they must say the great Yes or the great No.

He who has the Yes ready within him

immediately reveals himself, and saying it he goes


against his honor and his own conviction.

He who refuses does not repent. Should he be asked again,

he would say no again. And yet that no —

the right no — crushes him for the rest of his life.


(1901)



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