Forbidden Words: Selected Poetry

by Eugénio de Andrade

Eugenio de Andrade is the author of twenty-nine volumes of poetry as well as numerous children's books, collections of prose writings, and translations into Portuguese of Sappho, Federico Garcia Lorca, and Yannis Ritsos. Forbidden Words: Selected Poetry of Eugenio de Andrade, is based on the poet's own retrospective Antologia Breve ("Brief Anthology") of 1998, expanded and edited for English-speaking readers by his longtime translator, Alexis Levitin.

Marguerite Yourcenar spoke of "the well-tempered clavier" of Andrade's poems, Gregory Rabassa of his "succinct lyricism...summing things up in a moment, much like haiku." His verse, deeply rooted in the rural landscapes of his childhood and in the ancient Greek lyric, have the clarity of light on sand, radiating pagan intimations of immortality.

Genres: Poetry, Portugal, Portuguese Literature

294 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2003

About the author

The Portuguese poet Eugénio de Andrade, pseudonym of José Fontinhas, is revered as one of the leading names in contemporary Portuguese poetry.
His poetry is most striking for the depth of his short poems. One of Eugénio de Andrade's most known poems is his Poem to Mother.
In 2001, he received the Portuguese award Prémio Camões.

Reviews

[Rowena · Rating 5 out of 5]

De Andrade's style immediately reminded me so much of Neruda's. The following poem in particular was reminiscent of a Neruda ode:

On A Copy Of The Georgics

Books. Warmth,
their tender skin, serene. Loving
company. Willing always
to share the sun
of their waters. So docile,
silent, loyal.
So luminous in their
white and vegetal closed
melancholy. Loved
like no other companions
of the spirit. So musical
in the fluvial overflowing
ardour of the day.


The writing was just so beautiful and calming. It had a lot of the passion that Neruda's words have:

Freesias

A homeland makes some sense
when it's a mouth
that kisses as it speaks of it,
bringing in its syllables
wheat, cicadas,
the vibration
of the soul, the body, the air,
or a brightness bursting through the house
with the freesias
that make, oh friend, my heart so very light.

De Andrade sees poetry in ordinary people and ordinary actions:

The Art of Poetry

All the art is here,
in the way this woman
from the outskirts of Canton
or the fields of Alpedrinha
waters her four or five rows
of cabbages: the sure hand,
intimacy with the earth,
the heart's commitment.
That's how a poem is made.


What made me very happy was seeing an ode to Fernando Pessoa in this collection:

F. P.

From face to face your search is for yourself
and all you find is night to which you're brought
naked at last- an icy flame, madness,
lights up the nothing you had so long sought.

5 stars and a new favourite.

[Edita · Rating 5 out of 5]

We’ve worn our words to death,
when now I say: my love,
nothing happens, absolutely nothing.
And yet, before the words were spent,
I’m certain
that everything trembled
at the mere murmur of your name
in the silence of my heart.

Now we have nothing to give.
There is nothing within you
that asks me for water.
The past is useless as a rag.
And I’ve told you already: the words are spent.

Good-bye.

[pearl]

4.
In the murmuring waters of memory
just now, with you, I have been born.

[christopher leibow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have not found a poet since Neruda who has moved me more,
I will let his words speak for him

It is urgent love
It is urgent. A ship upon the sea

It is urgent to destroy some words
Sadness, solitude and cruelty
Some moanings
many swords.

It is urgent to invent a joyfulness
Multiply kisses and cornfields
Discover roses and rivers
And glistening moments. It is urgent

Silence and an impure light fall upon
Our shoulders till they ache.
It is urgent, love
It is urgent to endure.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eugenio de Andrade’s words are both romantic and spare, luminous and direct. This selection of his poetry in bilingual translation is magnificent, and, for me, unexpected. I will merely represent my favorites from this volume – a must read for any lover of contemporary poetry.

“Urgently”

It's urgent-love.
It's urgent- a boat upon the sea.

It's urgent to destroy certain words,
hate, solitude, and cruelty,
some mornings,
many swords.

It's urgent to invent a joyfulness,
multiply kisses and cornfields,
discover roses and rivers
and glistening mornings- it's urgent.

Silence and an impure light fall upon our shoulders till they ache.
It's urgent- love, it's urgent
to endure.

“I Do Not Sing Because I Dream”

I do not sing because I dream.
I simply sing because you’re real.
I sing your ripened gaze,
your purest smile,
your animal grace.

I sing because I am a man.
And if I didn’t sing I’d be
just a brute, bursting with health, blind
drunk and dizzy with delight
there in your vineyard without wine.

I sing because love wishes it.
Because hay ripens
in your arms, glistening wet.
Because my body tightens
facing them, bare and bathed in sweat.

“Receding Surf”

The cool violence of wine;
the furrows of receding surf; the morning whistle
of the shepherd, more propitious for art
than all the music of the spheres;
this pride at having in one’s heart the spilled milk of the stars.

See my other reviews here!

[Mary Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wish my Portuguese was better, but Andrade's poetry is still beautiful in English. Once again, I realized that poetry is even more beautiful when read aloud. It's just not the same otherwise.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

descobri as linhas, as estrofes, voltei atrás aos versos.
A luz, a tranparência, a certeza, a força, o poder, a liberdade.
É o meu favoritto entre os POETAS. Conheci-o pessoalmente. era assim - transparente.

[H · Rating 4 out of 5]

عن رأيهِ في الشعر يقول أندرداي: " الشعر ليس فن أناس خاملين، أو نثرًا منمّقاً ، بل هو أمرٌ قائم بذاته ، و يتطلب انغماساً كلياً من الشاعر في إلهامه، فالشعر هو نار المعرفة التي هي أيضاً نار المحبّة و التي يحترق فيها الشاعر و يذوب، فهي أخلاقه و معنوياته و لا مكان لشيء آخـر ."

[Carolina · Rating 3 out of 5]

These a strikingly simple poems which leave an impact nonetheless.

[Azure · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neat work.

[C]

In the murmuring waters of memory
just now, with you, I have been born.