Trabalho preparado para uma revista literária de Dublin, onde traduzi 4 poemas do português para o inglês".
FERNANDO PESSOA – AUTOPSYCHOGRAPHY
This Pessoa’s poem is marked by the forgery of the feelings – the art of misrepresentation. Autopsychography derives from Portuguese word “Psicografia” (Psychography), which derives from the Greek, meaning ‘writing from the mind or soul of a medium, words suggested by a spirit or entity’.
AutopsychographyThe poet is a mere dissimulator
His dissimulation seems so real
That he dissimulates to be dolor
The dolor which he can really feel.
And those who read his writes,
In the pain chore feels well,
Not both the pains he delights,
But the one which no one tells.
Thus in the gutters of the funny wheel,
Spin, spin, to put my mind apart
This convoy of hope made of steel
This convoy of rope called heart.
AutopsicografiaO poeta é um fingidor.
Finge tão completamente
Que chega a fingir que é dor
A dor que deveras sente.
E os que lêem o que escreve,
Na dor lida sentem bem,
Não as duas que ele teve,
Mas só a que eles não têm.
E assim nas calhas de roda
Gira, a entreter a razão,
Esse comboio de corda
Que se chama coração.
MÁRIO QUINTANA – THE CONTRA’S LITTLE POEM
In this poem, Quintana uses a homograph – “passarão” – the future sentence of the verb “to pass”, which can be interpreted as “death”, but also means “big bird”, although this meaning is out-of-context till the next verse, where Quintana uses the word “passarinho” – meaning “little bird” – which echoes with “passarão”, bringing up its second meaning.
The Contra’s Little PoemAll of those who may
Forbid me to fly:
They will pass away
I'm passing by.
Poeminha do ContraTodos esses que aí estão
Atravancando o meu caminho
Eles passarão...
Eu passarinho.
CRUZ & SOUZA – SKULL
The leading figure of the Symbolist movement in Brazil, Cruz e Sousa was the son of freed slaves. His poetry weds the technical principles of French Symbolism to themes drawn from his social concerns and his own personal suffering. This poem describes a skull, emphasizing that we are all the same, and the Death takes us all, either white or black.
SkullIEyes which were eyes, two holes
Neither green nor blue, cold and dull...
Two dark eyeholes in a deep stroll
Skull!
IINose of delicate feature, insolent,
Shaped not to be lenient but cruel.
What's been done of the sweet scent?
Skull! Skull!!
IIIMouth of white teeth and lips
Kindly rounded, almost dull.
Where the smile, the laugh, the quips?
Skull! Skull!! Skull!!!
CaveiraIOlhos que foram olhos, dois buracos
Agora, fundos, no ondular da poeira...
Nem negros, nem azuis e nem opacos
Caveira!
IINariz de linhas, correções audazes,
De expressão aquilina e feiticeira,
Onde os olfatos virginais, falazes?!
Caveira! Caveira!!
IIIBoca de dentes límpidos e finos,
De curva leve, original, ligeira,
Que é feito dos teus risos cristalinos!?
Caveira! Caveira!! Caveira!!!
JOÃO CABRAL DE MELO NETO – from Death & Life Severina
"Morte e Vida Severina" (partially translated by Elizabeth Bishop as "Death and Life of a Severino", but for aesthetic reasons I think "Death & Life Severina" works better) is Cabral's most famous work, a very long narrative poem. The part I took here became a song sang by Chico Buarque de Hollanda, and describes the life of a poor country man in the dry northeastern part of Brazil, dreaming about have his own land.
from Death & Life SeverinaThe grave you are,
measured by strife
is the smallest share
you've got in life.
Neither wide nor profound,
Just the perfect range,
it’s the piece of ground
yours innately grange.
It’s not a big grave,
but measured and spared,
the land which you crave
one day to see shared.
It’s a big grave for your blunt
dead body, untied and uncurled,
you’ll feel yourself more pleasant
than you ever felt in the entire world.
de Morte e Vida SeverinaEssa cova em que estás,
com palmos medida,
é a cota menor
que tiraste em vida.
É de bom tamanho,
nem largo nem fundo,
é a parte que te cabe
neste latifúndio.
Não é cova grande.
é cova medida,
é a terra que querias
ver dividida.
É uma cova grande
para teu pouco defunto,
mas estarás mais ancho
que estavas no mundo.
