Os Pássaros Brancos e Outros Poemas

by W.B. Yeats

Genres: Poetry

Paperback

Published January 1, 1993

About the author

William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and dramatist, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years Yeats served as an Irish Senator for two terms. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival, and along with Lady Gregory and Edward Martyn founded the Abbey Theatre, serving as its chief during its early years. In 1923 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for what the Nobel Committee described as "inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation." He was the first Irishman so honored. Yeats is generally considered one of the few writers who completed their greatest works after being awarded the Nobel Prize; such works include The Tower (1928) and The Winding Stair and Other Poems (1929).

Yeats was born and educated in Dublin but spent his childhood in County Sligo. He studied poetry in his youth, and from an early age was fascinated by both Irish legends and the occult. Those topics feature in the first phase of his work, which lasted roughly until the turn of the century. His earliest volume of verse was published in 1889, and those slow paced and lyrical poems display debts to Edmund Spenser and Percy Bysshe Shelley, as well as to the Pre-Raphaelite poets. From 1900, Yeats' poetry grew more physical and realistic. He largely renounced the transcendental beliefs of his youth, though he remained preoccupied with physical and spiritual masks, as well as with cyclical theories of life.
--from Wikipedia

Reviews

[Paula Abreu Silva]

"QUANDO FICARES VELHA

Quando ficares velha, grisalha e sonolenta
E cabeceares à lareira, pega neste livro
E lê-o devagar, sonha com o olhar meigo
E com as sombras profundas outrora nos teus olhos;

Quantos amaram os teus momentos de feliz encanto
E a tua beleza com amor falso ou autêntico,
Além daquele homem que amou em ti a alma peregrina
E as tristezas que alteravam o teu rosto;

E curvando-te mais sobre a lareira ao rubro
Murmura, um pouco triste, como o Amor fugiu
E caminhou sobre as montanhas lá no alto
E escondeu o rosto numa multidão de estrelas."

Página 31

[Teresa]

"LEDA E O CISNE

Um sopro de vento: as longas asas continuando a adejar
Por sobre a vacilante rapariga, as coxas acariciadas
Pelas patas escuras, a nuca bem segura pelo bico,
Ele a sustém, o peito contra o peito, indefesa.

Como poderiam esses dedos inseguros e aterrados repelir
Das coxas rendidas a emplumada glória?
E que mais pode um corpo, tombado pelo branco assalto,
Senão sentir, no lado onde ele poisa, o coração a bater?

Um estremecimento engendra na região das ancas
O muro destruído, o telhado e a torre incendiados,
Morto Agamémnon.
Estando assim tão presa,
Tão subjugada pelo rude sangue aéreo,
Teria ela assumido o conhecimento dele e o seu poder
Antes que o indiferente bico a soltasse?"

[José Vieira]

Lê-se pausadamente. E fica a melancolia.

"Pássaros Brancos" e "Quando fores Velha" lembraram-me que o tempo passa por todos nós e que, com ele, passam amores e memórias.

Alguns poemas terminam na página. Outros continuam depois dela.

[Carolina]

Lovely poetry to warm the heart with a cup of tea in hand and the rain falling outside the window. Autumn come, we have been expecting you.

[João Moura]

Amor, velhice, natureza, mitologia, condição humana, guerra...no tom idílico característico de William Butler Yeats...

[Beatriz]

Nunca entendo títulos de livros de poesia.