I'm listening to the audio book of Thermopylae, by Paul Cartledge, which early on quotes a line from one C.P. Cavafy, from his prose poem The Ships, as translated by Edmund Keeley:

From Imagination to the Blank Page. A difficult crossing, the waters dangerous. At first sight the distance seems small, yet what a long voyage it is, and how injurious sometimes for the ships that undertake it.

The piece is worth the read, most definitely, if you have any interest in writing.

I must confess that until last night, I had never heard Cavafy's name (and I even missed it in the audio stream - though I caught Keeley's name, which seemed to offer too many spelling alternatives - so I googled the first sentence, which brought me to the Cavafy Archive, which in turn has been suitably bookmarked for future browsing).

What I found particularly interesting was that the site has published three translations of The Ships (Cavafy wrote in Greek). The other two versions of the same paragraph are, by Manuel Savidis:

From Imagination to Paper. It is a rough crossing, and a treacherous sea. The distance seems short at first sight, but how long a voyage this is, and how damaging it often proves to the ships that attempt it.

and, by Walter Kaiser:

From the Imagination to the Paper. The passage is a difficult one; the sea, perilous. At first sight, the distance appears small; and yet, how long the voyage is withal, and how hazardous at times for the ships that undertake it.

The whole thing is delicious.

Cheers...