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Poets Of Brazil: A Selection
The first bilingual anthology of Brazilian Poetry to cover its entire 500-year-long history, this book drew the following comment from Yale's expert in world literature, Harold Bloom: Poets of Brazil: A Bilingual Selection is the only book available that gives these poets to us in both languages, Portuguese and American English. The choice of poets is remarkably inclusive and various and is particularly enlightening in the works of the twentieth-century Republic of Brazil. In particular, the representation of Manuel Bandeira, of the three Andrades and of Archanjo are brilliantly rendered. The quality of the introduction and notes is also estimable.
- GenresPoetry
Hardcover
First published June 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 14, 2011
While I give myself two stars as a reader for not knowing more about Brazil's history, this was a great span of poets from the country. It includes indigenous and immigrants, ex-pats and residents, men and women.
The poems are divided by time period, and each is presented in its original Portuguese on one side of the page, and the English translation on the other. Each poet has a brief biography, which helped place their works in context.
I'm not sure translations always "work." Some of the time the general feeling comes across well; other times I couldn't help but think the original language would have made the poems more powerful.
My two favorite poems were from the "Twentieth-Century Republic" section, the last grouping of the anthology.
"Jose" by Carlos Drummond de Andrade asks "And now what, Jose?" and is about aging and not succeeding and what comes next? I liked the tone of it, sarcastic and failing.
The second one that really stuck out to me was "Orphan at the Window" by Adelia Prado, with the first line "I miss God."
The poems are divided by time period, and each is presented in its original Portuguese on one side of the page, and the English translation on the other. Each poet has a brief biography, which helped place their works in context.
I'm not sure translations always "work." Some of the time the general feeling comes across well; other times I couldn't help but think the original language would have made the poems more powerful.
My two favorite poems were from the "Twentieth-Century Republic" section, the last grouping of the anthology.
"Jose" by Carlos Drummond de Andrade asks "And now what, Jose?" and is about aging and not succeeding and what comes next? I liked the tone of it, sarcastic and failing.
The second one that really stuck out to me was "Orphan at the Window" by Adelia Prado, with the first line "I miss God."
December 21, 2011
This is a beautiful book with an elegant, tasteful cover, well-designed parallel text pages, quality printing and careful editing. There is a concise introduction to the work of each poet and an informative general introduction written in clear, uncomplicated prose free of posturing and exaggeration.
The poems themselves are delightful, ranging from the sixteenth to the twentieth-centuries and giving a vivid sense of the complex cultural mix in Brazil. The majority of the poets are from the late nineteenth and early twentieth-centuries, the most modern being Neide Archanjo (1940-) so there is no reflection of the younger literary scene, but the volume certainly gives a generous look at the origins of contemporary Brazilian literature.
The translations are useful in understanding the originals with the caveat that Williams has exercised considerable ingenuity in inserting rhymes that at times compel him to change line length, phrasing and words: he occasionally changes words (shell for stone, for example) to get a rhyme and often adds words that are not in the originals.
This is a problem in translating from a language that rhymes fluidly to one that does not.
If we take the sonnet Círculo Vicioso by Machado de Assis as an example, we can only be astonished by the ease with which the poet can create a seemingly effortless play with only two rhymes: ABBA ABBA ABA BAB. To find seven rhyming words in English is hard enough but to find seven feminine rhymes as here, where the stress lands on the penultimate syllable, is nigh on impossible without resorting to distorted syntax or ending up with a comic effect. Williams satisifies himself with half-rhymes and an adapted rhyme scheme: ABBA ACAC DED EDE. This means that the two last tercets are classical but the rest is a bit of a hodge-podge.
Classical poetry is not all about rhyming, however, and the translator runs the risk of sacrificing the poetic to his own attempts at versification. Circulo Vicioso uses the conventions of the sonneteer cannily. It is written in Alexandrines, those long, loping fourteen syllable lines that give space for the poet to muster his rhymes. He is less than regular with the caesura- the breathing space that a long line demands- but the placing of the first stressed vowel well into the line (Bailando NO AR) makes the poem start in what is known in classical poetry as the Sapphic mode in which it is obligatory to have the accent on the fourth and and sixth (or eighth) syllables. The tercets that close the poem, by contrast, are written in the emphatic mode with the stress in the first syllable (Mísera- Pesa-me). This is an appropriate shift of tone given what the speaking voices are saying.
This is, by its very nature, difficult to render in English, which in the course of its poetic history has settled on the five-footed ten syllable line as the most natural medium for poetic expression and is much less given to syllable counting and rhyme. There is something about the very sound of English that does not give itself to the intricate play of this kind of poetry. James Fenton is very good on this and I recommend his book on poetry.
The more recent poets in this collection are less challenging to put into English and are satisfying to come to know. I was particularly taken with Adélia Prado with her clearly expressed dilemmas that capture the soul of a modern woman. It is not complicated but it is not pretentious either and it is marvellously direct:
I'm no longer young
Science has not come to my rescue,
nor do I have as a definite consolation
the respect of the young.
I've been thinking about this poem a lot this morning and I find it moving.
The poems themselves are delightful, ranging from the sixteenth to the twentieth-centuries and giving a vivid sense of the complex cultural mix in Brazil. The majority of the poets are from the late nineteenth and early twentieth-centuries, the most modern being Neide Archanjo (1940-) so there is no reflection of the younger literary scene, but the volume certainly gives a generous look at the origins of contemporary Brazilian literature.
The translations are useful in understanding the originals with the caveat that Williams has exercised considerable ingenuity in inserting rhymes that at times compel him to change line length, phrasing and words: he occasionally changes words (shell for stone, for example) to get a rhyme and often adds words that are not in the originals.
This is a problem in translating from a language that rhymes fluidly to one that does not.
If we take the sonnet Círculo Vicioso by Machado de Assis as an example, we can only be astonished by the ease with which the poet can create a seemingly effortless play with only two rhymes: ABBA ABBA ABA BAB. To find seven rhyming words in English is hard enough but to find seven feminine rhymes as here, where the stress lands on the penultimate syllable, is nigh on impossible without resorting to distorted syntax or ending up with a comic effect. Williams satisifies himself with half-rhymes and an adapted rhyme scheme: ABBA ACAC DED EDE. This means that the two last tercets are classical but the rest is a bit of a hodge-podge.
Classical poetry is not all about rhyming, however, and the translator runs the risk of sacrificing the poetic to his own attempts at versification. Circulo Vicioso uses the conventions of the sonneteer cannily. It is written in Alexandrines, those long, loping fourteen syllable lines that give space for the poet to muster his rhymes. He is less than regular with the caesura- the breathing space that a long line demands- but the placing of the first stressed vowel well into the line (Bailando NO AR) makes the poem start in what is known in classical poetry as the Sapphic mode in which it is obligatory to have the accent on the fourth and and sixth (or eighth) syllables. The tercets that close the poem, by contrast, are written in the emphatic mode with the stress in the first syllable (Mísera- Pesa-me). This is an appropriate shift of tone given what the speaking voices are saying.
This is, by its very nature, difficult to render in English, which in the course of its poetic history has settled on the five-footed ten syllable line as the most natural medium for poetic expression and is much less given to syllable counting and rhyme. There is something about the very sound of English that does not give itself to the intricate play of this kind of poetry. James Fenton is very good on this and I recommend his book on poetry.
The more recent poets in this collection are less challenging to put into English and are satisfying to come to know. I was particularly taken with Adélia Prado with her clearly expressed dilemmas that capture the soul of a modern woman. It is not complicated but it is not pretentious either and it is marvellously direct:
I'm no longer young
Science has not come to my rescue,
nor do I have as a definite consolation
the respect of the young.
I've been thinking about this poem a lot this morning and I find it moving.
March 21, 2020
This is a lovely and diverse collection of prosody from a country and people I have come to love as much as my own. The selections span several centuries and include contributions from poets from the Northeast and Southeast of Brazil. In my opinion, the translations do a wonderful job of rendering the musicality of original Portuguese into English. One of the selections spoke directly to me, as it captures my feelings towards the country that has become my second nation:
Brasil amado não porque seja minha pátria,
Pátria é acaso de migrações e do pão-nosso onde Deus der...
Brasil que eu amo porque é o ritmo do meu braço aventuroso,
O gosto dos meus descansos,
O balanço das minhas cantigas amores e danças.
Brasil que eu sou porque é a minha expressão muito engraçada,
Porque é o meu sentimento pachorrento,
Porque é o meu jeito de ganhar dinheiro, de comer e de dormir.
The book was a pleasure to read and gave me a wonderful new approach to strengthening my Portuguese language skills. Highly recommended for lovers of poetry and people that have strong feelings for and fond recollections of Brazil. Four Stars.
Brasil amado não porque seja minha pátria,
Pátria é acaso de migrações e do pão-nosso onde Deus der...
Brasil que eu amo porque é o ritmo do meu braço aventuroso,
O gosto dos meus descansos,
O balanço das minhas cantigas amores e danças.
Brasil que eu sou porque é a minha expressão muito engraçada,
Porque é o meu sentimento pachorrento,
Porque é o meu jeito de ganhar dinheiro, de comer e de dormir.
The book was a pleasure to read and gave me a wonderful new approach to strengthening my Portuguese language skills. Highly recommended for lovers of poetry and people that have strong feelings for and fond recollections of Brazil. Four Stars.
July 4, 2008
My first real exposure to Brazilian poetry and I found it quite enjoyable. This book presents the poetry in chronological form moving from one literary movement to the next.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews