Introduction

Manuel Carneiro de Souza Bandeira Filho (1886--1968) wanted his poems ``to be eternal, saying the simplest and least intentional things.'' He was born in Recife, in the north of Brazil, and his poetry is concerned with memories of his home-town and of the people of the north, even though he lived in Rio de Janeiro nearly all his life. His first book, Ash of the Hours (Cinza das Horas), published in 1917, was a major influence on artists of the Modernist movement, who organized the Modern Art Week of 1922. He taught literature at the Colegio Pedro II in Rio until his retirement. He also made many translations from the French and edited several anthologies of Brazilian poetry.

O Ultimo Poema/The Last Poem

Antologia/Anthology

Rondo dos Cavalinhos/Rondeau of the Little Horses

Tragedia Brasileira/Brazilian Tragedy

Jose Oswald De Souza Andrade (1890--1953) was, according to Mario de Andrade, ``the most characteristic and dynamic member of the Modernist movement.'' Born into a wealthy family, he visited the Orient and Europe, from which he returned in 1912, bringing to Brazil the influence of Marinetti's Futurist Manifesto. He published a collection of his poems entitled Brazilwood (Pau Brasil) in Paris in 1925. This book is a revaluation of several aspects of Brazilian culture, tendencies of national behavior, usages, and customs of the people.

Biblioteca Nacional/National Library

Reclame/Advertisement

Procissao do Enterro/Funeral Procession

Epitafio/Epitaph

Jorge Mateus De Lima (1893--1953) was a poet of the Modernist movement who took much interest in the cultural traditions of the black population of Brazil. He received a degree in medicine and practiced for many years. He was also a noteworthy photographer, essayist, and novelist.

A Mao Enorme/The Enormous Hand

Mario Raul De Morais Andrade (1893--1945) was possibly the most influential poet of his generation. He wrote a great number of essays on literature, art, music, and Brazilian folklore. His book of poems Pauliceia Desvairada (Hallucinated City), published in 1922, marks a break with the Parnassian School, and he was one of the organizers of the Modern Art Week. His novel Macunaima was recently made into a film by a leading young Brazilian film-director.

Improviso do Rapaz Morto/Improvisation of the Dead Boy

Cassiano Ricardo (b. 1895), was born in Sao Paulo. He received his university degree in Law. He founded and edited several newspapers in Sao Paulo, among them Anhanguera and A Manha. His poem Martim Cerere, an epic vision of Brazilian history and a search for a national mythology, is considered by many to be a classic of modern Brazilian poetry.

O Canto da Juriti/The Song of the Wild Dove

Anoitecer/Nightfall

Joaquim Cardozo (b. 1897) was born in Recife and is a graduate of the Engineering School of Pernambuco. Carlos Drummond de Andrade refers to him as ``a modernist more absent than present,'' for his first book, a collection of poems written since 1925, was not published until 1947. For many years he has been employed as a specialist in calculus for an engineering firm in Rio. His poetry is greatly admired by the new generation of poets in Brazil.

Cemiterio da Infancia/Cemetery of Childhood

Elegia Para Maria Alves/Elegy for Maria Alves

Cecilia Meireles (1901--1964) was born in Rio de Janeiro, and for many years worked there as a librarian in the public library. She wrote several books for children.

Segundo Motivo da Rosa/Second Rose Motif

Vigilia/Vigil

Balada das Dez Bailarinas do Cassino/Ballad of the Ten Casino Dancers

O Cavalo Morto/The Dead Horse

Metal Rosicler, 9/Pyrargyrite Metal, 9

Murilo Mendes (b. 1902) has been teaching in Rome for many years. His conversion to Catholicism in 1934 greatly influenced his work. His poetry is dramatic and apocalyptic, and is characterized by a surrealist vision, the abstraction of time and space, a systematic deformation of people and objects, and the use of allegory.

Mapa/Map

Cavalos/Horses

Carlos Drummond De Andrade (b. 1902) is usually considered the best of the older generation of Brazilian poets. He was born in the little town of Itabira, in the state of Minas Gerais. As his name indicates, he has Scotch blood, and oddly enough, mineiros, people from the state of Minas (mines), are often compared to the Scots. Itabira has one of the largest iron deposits in the world, the countryside is harsh and rocky, and life there is likely to be hard, narrow, and sometimes fanatically devout. Drummond de Andrade came to Rio de Janeiro as a young man, and has spent most of his life as a civil servant in the Ministry of Education, retiring in 1966. His poems have long been popular, especially the earlier ironic ones---those hardest to translate.

Viagem Na Familia/Travelling in the Family

Poema de Sete Faces/Seven-Sided Poem

Nao Se Mate/Don't Kill Yourself

A Mesa/The Table

Infancia/Infancy

No Meio do Caminho/In the Middle of the Road

Retrato de Familia/Family Portrait

Vinicius De Moraes (b. 1913) studied law at the University of Brazil and English Literature at Oxford University in England. He became a diplomat in 1943, and served in Los Angeles, Paris, and Montevideo. He has transported the lyricism characteristic of his poetry into popular music, and today is considered to be ``the Pope of Bossa Nova.'' He is also interested in the cinema, and wrote the script for Marcel Camus's film Black Orpheus.

Cancao/Song

Soneto de Fidelidade/Sonnet on Fidelity

A Pera/The Pear

Poema de Natal/Christmas Poem

Soneto de Intimidade/Sonnet of Intimacy

Receita de Mulher/Woman Recipe

Soneto de Separacao/Sonnet on Separation

Mauro Ramos da Mota e Albuquerque (b. 1912), born in Recife, was for many years the editor of Diario de Pernambuco, the daily newspaper of Pernambuco. He is also a professor of geography.

O Galo/The Cock

Joao Cabral De Melo Neto (b. 1920), was born in Recife, where he went to school and where he published his first book Pedra do Sono (Stone of the Sleep) in 1942. He joined the Diplomatic Service in 1947, and was sent to Barcelona, where he lived for many years. His poetry contains many images of the social conditions of the northeastern region of Brazil, where he grew up. He is generally considered the most important poet of the post-war generation.

Espaco Jornal/Daily Space

Janelas/Windows

Poema/Poem

O Fim do Mundo/The End of the World

Cemiterio Pernambucano (Nossa Senhora da Luz)/Cemetery in Pernambuco (Our Lady of Light)

Cemiterio Pernambucano (Sao Lourenco da Mata)/Cemetery in Pernambuco (St. Lawrence of the Woods)

Morte e Vida Severina (O Retirante)/The Death and Life of a Severino (The `Retirante')

Morte e Vida Severina (Encontra dois ...)/The Death and Life of a Severino (He meets ...)

Morte e Vida Severina (Aparecem e se ...)/The Death and Life of a Severino (Neighbors, friends ...)

Imitacao da Agua/Imitation of Water

As Nuvens/The Clouds

O Mar e o Canavial/The Sea and the Canefield

A Educacao Pela Pedra/Education by Stone

Tecendo a Manha/Weaving the Morning

O Canavial e o Mar/The Canefield and the Sea

Uma Faca So Lamina/ A Knife All Blade

Os Vazios do Homem/The Emptiness of Man

O Urubu Mobilizado/The Drafted Vulture

O Sertanejo Falando/The Man From Up-Country Talking

Duas das Festas da Morte/Two of the Festivals of Death

Marcos Konder Reis (b. 1922) was born in Itajai, in the state of Santa Catarina. In 1944 he was graduated as an engineer from the University of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro.

Mapa/Map

Parametro/Parameter

Ferreira Gullar (b. 1930) was born in Sao Luis do Maranhao, and he has lived in Rio de Janeiro since 1951. He is a journalist and an art critic.

O Trabalho das Nuvens/Clouds' Work

Bibliography

Notes on Editors and Translators