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The writing of Fernando Pessoa reveals a mind shaken by intense inner suffering. In these poems he adopted four separate personae: Alberto Caeiro, Alvaro de Campos, Ricardo Reis and himself, using them to express 'great swarms of thought and feeling'. While each personae has its own poetic identity, together they convey a sense of ambivalence and consolidate a striving for completeness. Dramatic, lyrical, Christian, pagan, old and modern, Pessoa's poets and poetry contribute to the 'mysterious importance of existence'.
About the Author
Fernando Pessoa was born in Lisbon in 1888 and was brought up in Durban, South Africa. In 1905 he returned to Lisbon where he matriculated at the University, and continued to read and write in English. He published in 1918 35 Sonnets and in 1922 the three parts of his English Poems, all composed many years before. The rest of his life passed uneventfully in Lisbon. The only book published in his lifetime was Mensagem, a collection of poems on patriotic themes which won a consolation prize in a national competition. Pessoa also wrote under three pseudonyms, Alberto Caeiro, Alvaro de Campos and Ricardo Reis, whose biographies he invented.
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In the valley, flaring, a fire. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Pessoa's poetry is not a factual product or a morbid secretion of neurosis, but a conquest by the poet... Therefore, reading Pessoa, it's not enough to stop at the word or intuitive content, but we must strive to capture as much of this same content as the author has succeeded in sublimating and purifying in the form given to the poetic word.
This edition presents a wide collection of poems translated from the original Portuguese, where each poem is characterized by its unique vision and style, depending on which pseudonym the poet conceals himself (i.e., Alberto Caeiro, Ricardo Reis, Alvaro de Campos - or his real person). Pessoa's whole opus must be viewed in the perspective of the fight between the two principles of the human soul: the introvert, dominant in him, and the extrovert, which cannot be suppressed.
A memorable collection of tremendous sensuous force.
This edition presents a wide collection of poems translated from the original Portuguese, where each poem is characterized by its unique vision and style, depending on which pseudonym the poet conceals himself (i.e., Alberto Caeiro, Ricardo Reis, Alvaro de Campos - or his real person). Pessoa's whole opus must be viewed in the perspective of the fight between the two principles of the human soul: the introvert, dominant in him, and the extrovert, which cannot be suppressed.
A memorable collection of tremendous sensuous force.
Format:Paperback
Pessoa is, alongside Neruda, one of the most important poets of the 20th century and it is a mystery why he remains largely unknown to most readers. Here you can find a good (albeit short) selection of his best work which is very competently translated from the original Portuguese. Not a comprehensive collection of his work but a good entry point into his tortured mind. Give it a try, I'm sure you won't regret it.
"What do I know of what I shall be, I who don't know who I am? Be whatever I think? But I think so many things!" - The Tobacconist's
"What do I know of what I shall be, I who don't know who I am? Be whatever I think? But I think so many things!" - The Tobacconist's
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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2 reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
A Strange Poet of Many Names
4 July 2011
Format:Paperback
In reading the poetry of Antonio Botto this reader discovered the name of another Portuguese poet, Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935) about whom there is very little written. He was a prolific poet whose works show the influence of French symbolism, moving from saudosismo ('a nostalgic yearning for the good things of the past) has several points of contact with the movement known as "Integralismo Lusitano" (Portuguese Integrationalism), but its harking back to the past is more closely related to a lyrical attitude than to any sense of political action') transitioning to an obsession with consciousness and sensation. One of the reasons he is not better known lies in his proclivity to assume nom de plumes - 73 in fact, including his own name and the names Alberto Caeiro, Ricardo Reis, and Álvaro de Campos. Each of his assumed identities wrote in different emphases on topic and style as Pessoa did no believe in the 'integrated personality', preferring to create 'multiple personalities' for the expressions that fought within his mind.
One example of his poetry, written at times in Portuguese and at times in English, is as follows;
AUTOPSYCHOGRAPHY by Fernando Pessoa (as himself)
The poet is a faker
Who's so good at his act
He even fakes the pain
Of pain he feels in fact.
And those who read his words
Will feel in what he wrote
Neither of the pains he has
But just the one they don't.
And so around its track
This thing called the heart winds,
A little clockwork train
To entertain our minds.
In this collection, SELECTED POEMS, David Butler has provided translations where indicated and sets the poems as though they were a dialogue with each other - a fact that allows us to understand this strange but haunting poet in the manner in which he wrote. it is a remarkable achievement and provides an excellent introduction to the reader who is unfamiliar with the man Fernando Pessoa and his poetry. Grady Harp, July 11
One example of his poetry, written at times in Portuguese and at times in English, is as follows;
AUTOPSYCHOGRAPHY by Fernando Pessoa (as himself)
The poet is a faker
Who's so good at his act
He even fakes the pain
Of pain he feels in fact.
And those who read his words
Will feel in what he wrote
Neither of the pains he has
But just the one they don't.
And so around its track
This thing called the heart winds,
A little clockwork train
To entertain our minds.
In this collection, SELECTED POEMS, David Butler has provided translations where indicated and sets the poems as though they were a dialogue with each other - a fact that allows us to understand this strange but haunting poet in the manner in which he wrote. it is a remarkable achievement and provides an excellent introduction to the reader who is unfamiliar with the man Fernando Pessoa and his poetry. Grady Harp, July 11
0 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Four poets as one
16 Jan 2006
Format:Paperback
Pesssoa is unique as a poet in that he generously scatters himself into the identities of three other people. The four heteronyms dominate his character.He searches for objective truth.
Here is an excerpt.
have no ambitions and no desires.
To be a poet is not my ambition,
It's my way of being alone.
Here is an excerpt.
have no ambitions and no desires.
To be a poet is not my ambition,
It's my way of being alone.
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