Carlos Drummond de Andrade

Seven-Sided Poem

When I was born, one of the crooked

angels who live in shadow, said:

Carlos, go on! Be gauche in life.

The houses watch the men,

men who run after women.

If the afternoon had been blue,

there might have been less desire.

The trolley goes by full of legs:

white legs, black legs, yellow legs.

My God, why all the legs?

my heart asks. But my eyes

ask nothing at all.

The man behind the moustache

is serious, simple, and strong.

He hardly ever speaks.

He has a few, choice friends,

the man behind the spectacles and the moustache.

My God, why hast Thou forsaken me

if Thou knew’st I was not God,

if Thou knew’st that I was weak?

Universe, vast universe,

if I had been named Eugene

that would not be what I mean

but it would go into verse

faster.

Universe, vast universe,

my heart is vaster.

I oughtn’t to tell you,

but this moon

and this brandy

play the devil with one’s emotions

(Translated by Elizabeth Bishop)

Carlos Drummond de Andrade

Square Dance

João loved Teresa who loved Raimundo

who loved Maria who loved Joaquim who loved Lili

who didn’t love anyone.

João went to the United States, Teresa to a convent,

Raimundo died in an accident, Maria became a spinster

Joaquim committed suicide, and Lili married J. Pinto Fernandes,

who had nothing to do with the story.

Sousandre (jouquim"oaquim de Sousa Andrade)

 

Reconfiguring Romanticism (16): Sousandrade’s “Wall Street Inferno,” 

some lines & a commentary

English translation: Odile Cisneros

1. 

(Guesa, having traversed the West Indies, believes himself rid of the Xeques and penetrates the New-York-Stock-Exchange; the Voice, from the wilderness:)

– Orpheus, Dante, Aeneas, to hell 
Descended; the Inca shall ascend 
= Ogni sp’ranza lasciate,
Che entrate…
– Swedenborg, does fate new worlds portend?

2.

(Smiling Xeques appear disguised as Railroad-managers, Stockjobbers, Pimpbrokers, etc., etc., crying out:)
Wall Street’s parallel to Chatham…

– Harlem! Erie! Central! Pennsylvania!
= Million! Hundred million!! Billions!! Pelf!!!
– Young is Grant! Jackson,
Atkinson!
Vanderbilts, Jay Goulds like elves!

3.

(The Voice, poorly heard amidst the commotion:)

– Fulton’s Folly, Codezo’s Forgery
…Fraud cries the nation’s bedlam
They grasp no odes
Railroads;
4.

(Brokers going on:)

– Pygmies, Brown Brothers! Bennett! Stewart!
Rothschild and that Astor with red hair!!
= Giants, slaves
If only nails gave
Out streams of light, if they would end despair!..

5.

(Norris, Attorney; Codezo, inventor; Young, Esq., manager; Atkinsonagent; Armstrong, agent; Rhodes, agent; P. Offman & Voldo, agents; hubbub, mirage; in the middle, Guesa:)

– Two! Three! Five thousand! If you play
Five million, Sir, will you receive
= He won! Hah! Haah!! Haaah!!!
– Hurrah! Ah!…
– They vanished… Were they thieves?..

6.

(J. Miller atop the roofs of the Tammany wigwam unfurling the Garibaldian mantle:)

– Bloodthirsties! Sioux! Oh Modocs!
To the White House! Save the Nation,
From the Jews! From the hazardous
Goth’s Exodus!
From immoral conflagration!

Carlos Drummond de Andrade

Seven-Sided Poem

When was born, one of the crooked
angels who live in shadow, said:
Carlos, go on! Be gauche in life.

The houses watch the men,
men who run after women.
If the afternoon had been blue,
there might have been less desire.

The trolley goes by full of legs:
white legs, black legs, yellow legs.
My God, why all the legs?
my heart asks. But my eyes
ask nothing at all.

The man behind the moustache
is serious, simple, and strong.
He hardly ever speaks.
He has a few, choice friends,
the man behind the spectacles and the moustache.

My God, why hast Thou forsaken me
if Thou knew'st 1 was not God,
if Thou- knew'st that 1 was weak.

Universe, vast universe,
if 1 had been named Eugene
that would not be what 1 mean
but it would go into verse
faster.
Universe, vast universe,
my heart is vaster.

I oughtn't to tell you,
but this moon
and this brandy
play the devil with one's emotions.

Translated by Elizabeth Bishop