The Keeper of Sheep

On a singular March day in 1914, "Fernando Pessoa felt his master appear inside him, "Alberto Caeiro, " the heteronym that stands over his epiphanic collection, composed that day "The Keeper of Sheep" -- the pivotal work in the career of Portugal's great modern poet. Of the poet's persona Octavio Paz declares, "his words strike us as truths from another age, that age in which everything was the same." "The Keeper of Sheep" is appears here in its original Portuguese beside its first English translation.

FERNANDO PESSOA was born in Lisbon in 1888. As a young man, he dropped out of university and made his living by translating, writing in avant-garde reviews, and drafting business letters in English and French. He began publishing criticism in 1912, creative prose in 1913, and poetry in 1914. He published his works under a variety of alter egos he called heteronyms--Alberto Caeiro, Ricardo Reis, and Alvaro de Campos, and nearly seventy others. He died in Lisbon, in 1935.

Introduction

xi

Edwin Honig

Susan M. Brown

I. Eu nunca guardei rebanhos I never kept sheep

3

(4)

II. O meu olhar e nitido como un girassol My glance is clear like a sunflower

7

(2)

III. Ao entardecer, debrucado pela janela Leaning over the window sill at sunset

9

(2)

IV. Esta tarde a trovoada caiu This afternoon a thunderstorm broke

11

(4)

V. Ha metafisica bastante em nao pensar em nada There's metaphysics enough in not thinking about anything

15

(6)

VI. Pensar em Deus e desobedecer a Deus To think of God is to disobey God

21

(2)

VII. Da minha aldeia vejo quanto da terra se pode ver do Universo From my village I see as much of the earth as can be seen in the Universe

23

(2)

VIII. Num meio-dia de fim de primavera Once at midday in late spring

25

(10)

IX. Sou um guardador de rebanhos I'm a keeper of sheep

35

(2)

X. "Ola, guardador de rebanhos" "Hello there, keeper of sheep"

37

(2)

XI. Aquela senhora tem um piano The woman over there has a piano

39

(2)

XII. Os pastores de Virgilio tocaram avenas e outras coisas The shepherds in Virgil played flutes and other things

41

(2)

XIII. Leve, leve, muito leve Lightly, lightly, ever so lightly

43

(2)

XIV. Nao me importo com as rimas. Raras vezes Rhymes mean nothing to me. Only rarely

45

(2)

XV. As quatro cancoes que seguem The four songs that follow now

47

(2)

XVI. Quem me dera que a minha vida fosse um carro de bois I'd give anything if only my life were an oxcart

49

(2)

XVII. No meu prato que mistura de Natureza Such a potpourri of Nature on my plate

51

(2)

XVIII. Quem me dera que eu fosse o po da estrada I'd give anything just to be the roadside dust

53

(2)

XIX. O luar quando bate na relva The moonlight when it beats the grass

55

(2)

XX. O Tejo e mais belo que o rio que corre pela minha aldeia The Tagus is lovelier than the river running through my village

57

(2)

XXI. Se eu pudesse trincar a terra toda If I could take a bite of the whole earth

59

(2)

XXII. Como quem num dia de Verao abre a porta de casa Like someone opening his house door on a Summer's day

61

(2)

XXIII. O meu olhar azul como o ceu Like the sky, my blue gaze

63

(2)

XXIV. O que no's vemos das coisas sao as coisas What we see of things are those things

65

(2)

XXV. As bolas de sabao que esta crianca The soap bubbles this child

67

(2)

XXVI. As vezes, em dias de luz perfeita e exacta Some days, when the light is perfect and precise

69

(2)

XXVII. So a Natureza e divina, e ela nao e divina Only Nature is divine, and she's not divine

71

(2)

XXVIII. Li hoje quase duas paginas Today I read nearly two pages

73

(2)

XXIX. Nem sempre sou igual no que digo e escrevo I'm not always the same in what I say and write

75

(2)

XXX. Se quiserem que eu tenha um misticismo, esta bem, tenho-o If they want me to be a mystic, fine. I'm a mystic

77

(2)

XXXI. Se as vezes digo que as flores sorriem If at times I say that flowers smile

79

(2)

XXXII. Ontem a tarde um homen das cidades Yesterday afternoon a city man

81

(4)

XXXIII. Pobres das flores nos canteiros dos jardins regulares Poor flowers in beds in neatly trimmed gardens

85

(2)

XXXIV. Acho tao natural que nao se pense I find it so natural not to think

87

(2)

XXXV. O luar atraves dos altos ramos The moonlight behind the tall branches

89

(2)

XXXVI. E ha poetas que sao artistas And there are poets who are artists

91

(2)

XXXVII. Como um grande borrao de fogo sujo Like a great blotch of filthy fire

93

(2)

XXXVIII. Bendito seja o mesmo sol de outras terras Blessed be the selfsame sun in other lands

95

(2)

XXXIX. O misterio das coisas, onde esta ele The mystery of things, where is it

97

(2)

XL. Passa uma borboleta por diante de mim A butterfly passes before me

99

(2)

XLI. No entardecer dos dias de Verao, as vezes At times, in the late afternoons of Summer

101

(2)

XLII. Passou a diligencia pela estrada, e foi-se A coach passed down the road and went off

103

(2)

XLIII. Antes o voo da ave, que passa e nao deixa rasto Rather the flight of the bird passing and leaving no trace

105

(2)

XLIV. Acordo de noite subitamente At night I suddenly waken

107

(2)

XLV. Um renque de arvores la longe, la para a encosta There, way over there by the hillside, a row of trees

109

(2)

XLVI. Deste modo ou daquele modo One way or another

111

(4)

XLVII. Num dia excessivamente nitido On a terribly clear day

115

(2)

XLVIII. Da mais alta janela da minha casa From the highest window of my house

117

(2)

XLIX. Meto-me para dentro, e fecho a janela I go indoors, and shut the window

119

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Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials