18 April, 2007

Stations of the Cross, by Fernando Pessoa



"I come from afar and bear in my profile,

If only in remote and misty form,

The profile of another being, at variance

With the base and human silhouette now mine.


Perhaps in former times I was, not Boabdil,

But merely his last look from the road

At the face of the Granada he was leaving,

A cold silhouette beneath the unbroken blue...


What I am now is that imperial longing

For what I once saw of myself in the distance...

I am myself the loss I suffered...


And on this road which leads to Otherness

Bloom in slender wayside glory

The sunflowers of the empire dead in me..."

3 comments:

Pico said...

Nota: O Poema está escrito em Inglês porque tenho recebido no meu Blog inúmeros visitantes dos Estados Unidos da América. Por esse motivo resolvi mostrar aos Americanos que também nós temos grandes poetas.

Anonymous said...

O problema é que a esmagadora maioria dos americanos nem sabem o que é Portugal, quanto mais conhecerem os nossos maiores poetas.
Mas enfim, é um esforço louvável.
E Pessoa devia ser Universal.

Anonymous said...

I love the poem and the pictures that you have of Pico Island in your blog.
See you next summer.
Love and kisses from Tina (USA).