The Complete Works of Alberto Caeiro: Bilingual edition Paperback – July 28, 2020

Perfecto estado

I saw this book being read by an old man on TikTok, so I said "hell, why not?". In return, I was immersed into a beautiful compilation of poetic works of Alberto Caeiro. It takes a certain lenses to understand what he says, but during long hours on public transit, I find myself lost in reading his work while listening to some ambient music. I recommend this if you love nonsense yet profound poetry. :)

So the translation of the keeper of sheep sucks as compared to richard zeniths translations for example, and that is like 80% of the book--- however caiero fans will appreciate the remainder which are valuable fragments!

‘One of the three greatest Portuguese poets of the 20th century, all of whom are/were Fernando Pessoa.’Lyrical, recursive, quintessentially Portuguese, these poems allow insight and light into a form of intellectual modernism that is both arresting and transformative. A Doppio, a sweet orange, a hand full of almonds and this book - a noble respite to be sure.

Great book, nice paper and well printed. The cover is terrible though.

The first time I read this book, I preferred the Zenith’s translation, which I’ve enjoyed for years. I preferred it as an old man prefers the meal he’s always eaten, just the way he knows and likes it. The second time around, I’m not so sure. OK, yes, when I die, please burn my body with a copy of the Zenith translations -- ‘A Little Larger Than the Entire Universe’ -- but in the meantime I am grateful to have this one to read, too.If you love Fernando Pessoa, if you especially love Alberto Caeiro, then you should have both translations. (And to do that you’ll need 3 books, because Zenith’s Caeiro translations are spread out over 2 volumes.) Because I speak intermediate Spanish, I like to think I can fake Portuguese. Likely I’m delusional. But staring at the text and both translations, my sense is that Margaret Jull Costa is more literal, more bound to the original word order. Whereas Richard Zenith is willing to bend the rules to sock it to you or break your heart.About the eternal child Jesus, from “The Keeper of Sheep”, #11(Richard Zenith’s translation:)“He wasn’t even allowed a mother and fatherLike other children.His father was two different people --An old man named Joseph who was a carpenterAnd who wasn’t his father,And an idiotic dove:The only ugly dove in the world,Because it wasn’t of the world and wasn’t a dove.And his mother gave birth to him without ever having loved.She wasn’t a woman: she was a suitcaseIn which he was sent from heaven.And they wanted him, born only of a motherAnd with no father he could love and honor,To preach goodness and justice!(Margaret Jull Costa’s translation:)“They didn’t even let him have a father and a motherLike the other children.His father was two people --An old man named Joseph, who was a carpenter,And not his father;And the other father was a stupid dove,The only ugly dove in the worldBecause it was neither of this world nor a real dove.And his mother hadn’t loved before she bore him.She wasn’t a woman: she was a suitcaseIn which he’d come down from heaven.And they wanted him -- who had been borne by his mother,And had never had a father he could love and respect --To preach kindness and justice!What do you think? I remember the first time I read the Zenith -- it knocked the wind right out of me. The Margaret Jull Costa translation doesn’t hit me as hard. But when I peer at the Portuguese -- it seems to me that she is more loyal to word order, more exacting.For example, both translators provide: “She wasn’t a woman: she was a suitcase.” The next line is the one that knocks me out. In Portuguese: “em que elle tinha vindo de céu”. Zenith has: “In which he was sent from heaven.” MJC has: “In which he’d come down from heaven.” MJC stays much closer to the verb Pessoa used. But I do so love the jolt I get from reading the Zenith!Above all, I’m grateful to have the Alberto Caeiro translations all together, all at once, instead of having them spread out in numerous volumes with other heteronyms. It’s glorious to get to read them this way. (What do you think? Any chance they’ll put out a volume of “the complete works of ricardo reis”? May it be so!) To me, the heteronyms deserve to be read this way, each one distinct and separate.Enough said. If you love Pessoa, in all his disguises, you’ll want both translations.