In the first stanza of the poem "Ithaca" by Constantinos Cavafys, the theme that the author is portraying is something like "carpe diem" or seize the day. He is telling us to live life without fear and good things will come. He wishes the traveler a long journey, "full of adventure, full of knowledge," which is a metaphor for life. He says that the traveler will not encounter the trials that Odysseus encountered, like Poseidon's wrath, the Cyclops, and the Lestrygonians.
In the second stanza is very much an extension of the theme in the first which is to make the most of life and the well-wishes that the life one leads be fulfilling and long.
The third stanza speaks then not of the journey itself, but of the destination- Ithaca. Ithaca here is used as a metaphor for Heaven or the after-life. The goal of the traveler should be to get to Ithaca, but not to rush to get there. The writer asks that the traveler revel in the moments of the journey rather than thinking constantly of the destination because thinking of it constantly will ruin the trip. He asks the traveler to, "anchor at the island when you are old" which means take your time and live, gain knowledge, revel in the beauty that life has to offer and Ithaca will be more spectacular when you get there.
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