Cavafy's Awaiting the Barbarians

Awaiting the Barbarians

by Constantin P. Cavafy
Konstantinos Kavafis, a Jew of Alexandria
Composed in 1904

— Why are we come together in the market place?

Barbarians are expected here to-day.

— Why in the Senate-house this inactivity —
why sit the Senators and do not legislate?

Because barbarians are to come to-day
What laws should they make now — the Senators?
Presently the barbarians will make laws.

— Why has our Emperor risen close upon the sun —
why is he waiting there, by the main city-gates,
seated upon the throne, — august, wearing the crown?

Because barbarians are to come to-day
And so the Emperor in person waits
to greet their leader. He has even prepared
a title-deed, on skin of Pergamus,
in favour of this leader. It confers
high rank on the barbarian, many names.

— Why do our consuls and the praetors go about
in scarlet togas fretted with embroidery;
why are they wearing bracelets rife with amethysts,
and rings magnificent with glowing emeralds;
why are they holding those invaluable staffs
inlaid so cunningly with silver and with gold?

Because barbarians are to come to-day;
and the barbarians marvel at such things.

— Why come not, as they use, our able orators
to hold forth in their rhetoric, to have their say?

Because barbarians are to come to-day;
and the barbarians have no taste for words.

— Why this confusion all at once, and nervousness:
(how serious of a sudden the faces have become):
why are the streets and meeting-places emptying,
and all the people lost in thought as they turn home?

Because the daylight fails, and the night comes,
but the barbarians come not. And there be
who from the frontier have arrived and said
that there are barbarians now at all.

And now what shall become of us without barbarians?
These people were in sooth some sort of settlement.


Translated by John Cavafy

(Poems by C. P. Cavafy. Translated, from the Greek, by J. C. Cavafy. Ikaros, 2003)


http://www.cavafy.com/poems/content.asp?id=218&cat=1

http://www.beyond-the-pale.co.uk/cavafy.htm


AT APPROXIMATELY NINE PM MDS COMPOSED OF MOTOR CYCLISTS RIOTED AT WEIRS BEACH LOCATED ON LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE. TWO HUNDRED NATIONAL GUARDSMEN RESPONDED COUPLED WITH RIOT TRAINED DEPUTIES FROM BELKNAP COUNTY AND LACONIA…POLICE DEPT.

DAMAGE HAS INCLUDED BURING O BOARDWALK, OVERTURNING OF POLICE CRUISER AND ADDITIONAL FIRES. RIOTERS HAMPERED FIRE FIGHTERS AND THUS FAR TEN HAVE BEEN ARRESTED. MATTER BEING FOLLOWED CLOSELY BY BOSTON AND BUREAU WILL BE KEPT ADVISED. END

FBI WASHINGTON DC
JUNE 23 1965

LACONIA, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Riotous conditions developed at Weirs Beach located on Lake Winnipesaukee at Laconia, New Hampshire, on the night of June 19, 1965, when a crowd of 6,000 to 10,000 men and women who had congregated on Lakeside Avenue at the resort became disorderly and defined the local police.

NATURE OF THE CROWD

The crowd was composed primarily of motorcyclists from all parts of the United States who were in the area to attend the annual motorcycle races at nearby Loudon, New Hampshire. Most of the individuals were in their twenties or early thirties….REDACTED

INITIAL INCIDENTS:

Trouble first occurred at about 7:00 p.m. on June 19, 1965, when someone threw a smoke bomb and the crowd converged in that area. Several more smoke bombs were thrown in the next hour with similar results. The crowd became disorderly and noisy, taunted police officers with vulgar and profane remarks, and interfered with traffic.

RIOTING ERUPTS:

By 9:00 p.m. the crowd had become an unruly mob completely defiant of police orders. Members of the mob fought among themselves, threw firecrackers, rocks and over turned two automobiles, one of which caught fire. An unsuccessful attempt was made to burn a bowling alley by pouring gasoline into the air-conditioning system of the building and igniting it. At 9:30 p.m., traffic was completely stopped in the area and some of the motorcyclists were drag racing amid the mob.

POLICE ACTION:

The Riot Squad of the Laconia Police Department, consisting of thirty men, moved into the area at 10:10 p.m. equipped with shotguns and other riot gear. They were met with a barrage of flying objects from the mob which refused to move. At that time the local police were joined by sixty New Hampshire State Police troopers and by officials of the Belknap County Sheriff’s Office. Tear gas was used by the police with little effect, the mob still refusing to disperse. Shotguns were then brought into play by the police who fired birdshot at the feet of the rioters….REDACTED.
…….Approximately 200 members of the National Guard detail assisted the police in the clean-up operation. A rumor that the motorcyclists would attempt a similar riotous disturbance on the night of June 20th 1965 did not materialize. As of 12:45 a.m., June 21, all of the motorcyclists had left the area and conditions were quiet.

ARRESTS AND INJURIES

Thirty-three rioters were arrested and each is being held in custody in default of $500 cash bond. Fifty were charged with failure to dispurse under a new State anti-riot law, eleven were charged with participating in a riot and the remaining were held on charges of drunkenness or assaulting an officer. Thirty-one rioters were treated for birdshot wounds at the Laconia General Hospital. Two of the injured reportedly received eye injuries. Several police officers were victims of minor injuries. REDACTED……

CAUSE OF THE RIOT:

REDACTED…….
…..no evidence to indicate that any racial aspects were involved or that subversive, radical, or criminal influences were present.

PRECAUTIONARY POLICE MEASURES:

REDACTED

NOTE: See memorandum W.C. Sullivan to A. H. Belmont….original to White House,…copies to General Counsel, President’s Counsel on Equal Opportunity, the AG, the Deputy AG and Assistant AG Doar.