Cavafy wrote 154 poems, while dozens more remained incomplete or in sketch form. During his lifetime, he consistently refused to formally publish his work and preferred to share it through local newspapers and magazines, or even print it out himself and give it away to anyone interested. His most important poems were written after his fortieth birthday, and officially published two years after his death.

European Modernist poets

• Anna Akhmatova
• Constantine Cavafy
• Srečko Kosovel
• Federico García Lorca
• Paul Valéry