The Footsteps

EDMUND KEELEY and PHILIP SHERRARD

Three Poems by C. P. CAVAFY

THE FOOTSTEPS

Eagles of coral

adorn the ebony bed

where Nero lies deep in sleep-

callous, peaceful, and happy,

robust in the vigor of his flesh

and the full vitality of youth.

But in the alabaster hall that keeps

the ancient shrine of the Aenobarbi

how restless the household gods!

The little creatures tremble

and try to hide their insignificant bodies.

They've heard a frightening sound,

a deadly sound coming up the stairs,

iron footsteps that shake the staircase;

and faint with fear, the miserable Lares

shoving each other and stumbling,

scramble to the back of the shrine,

one little god falling over another,

because they know what kind of sound that is,

they recognize by now the footsteps of the Furies.