Those people were a solution of a sort.” The poem influenced literary works such as The Tartar Steppe by Dino Buzzati (1940), The Opposing Shore (1951) by Julien Gracq, and Waiting for the Barbarians (1980) by J. M.
At the same time, the poet is showcasing how sometimes politicians can appear clueless or distant from their country's problem and sugar-coat their misfortunes with their opulence.
On the contrary, he prefers understatement and irony, allowing adjectives such as “embroidered,” “magnificent,” and “elegant,” used to describe togas and jewelry.
[8] Charles Simić has called it "an apt description of any state that needs enemies, real or imaginary, as a perpetual excuse",[6] while the Independent considered the poem's final line evocative of "the dangers implied by the end of the Cold War".
[12] American composer Philip Glass has also written an opera of the same name based on the Coetzee novel which premiered in September 2005 at Theater Erfurt, Germany.
Peter Carey's 1981 novel Bliss sees Lucy's young Communist boyfriend Kenneth quoting the first stanza directly from John Mavrogordato's translation.
[15] Laurie Anderson composed and performed a musical version of the poem at a weeklong festival sponsored by the Onassis Foundation in New York celebrating the 160 anniversary of Cavafy's birth.