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Portrait of Constantine P. Cavafy
Constantine P. Cavafy 1863–1933

Return often and take me, beloved sensation, return and take me -- when the memory of the body awakens, and an old desire runs again through the blood; when the lips and the skin remember, and the hands feel as if they touch again.

Return often and take me at night, when the lips and the skin remember....

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  1. SirMatelot United States

    This is a beautiful poem— sensual love remembered and, through that memory, re-experienced.
    The translation by Rae Dalven has a slightly different fourth line which I think is better:

    Return often and take me,
    beloved sensation, return and take me—
    when the memory of the body awakens,
    and old desire again runs through the blood;
    when the lips and the skin remember,
    and the hands feel as if they touch again.

    Return often and take me at night,
    when the lips and the skin remember . . .

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