OLAVO BILAC
 (1865-1918)

Olavo Bilac, a master ofpolished, gemlike verses and one ofthe most popular of all Brazilian poets, was bom in the nation''s capital, Rio de Janeiro. Although he carefully adhered to the tenets of versification propounded by the Parnassian school—including a preference for fixed poetic forms, classical themes, technically exact verse, correct language, and, above all, the precise word—Bilac sometimes disregarded the "ideal" of objective detachment as evidenced by the warmth found in some love sonnets. The bulk of his verse, however, does tend to be strictly "art for arfs sake," as exemplified

in the following stanzas from his "Professions of Faith":

I´m envious of the goldsmith when I write:

          The love I imitate

Which he, with gold, in high relief cut right

          A flower does create.

I copy him. Not even a Carrara's

          Sculptured stone:

But clearest crystal, gems as rare as

          Onyx I would own.

In his younger days, Bilac cultivated the carefree Bohemian lifestyle; he

liad a bawdy sense of humor and loved to play practical jokes on his friends.

Later he gained respectability in the Ministry of Education, where he was

employed as an inspector of schools; he also wrote curriculum and patriotic

anthems.

Poemas translated by Frederic G. William

(POETS OF BRAZIL – A Bilingual Selection – New York: Luso Brazilian Books)
Brighm Young University Studies, Provo, Utah, USA; Editora da Universidade Feral da Bahia, Salvador, Brasil.

Tercetos

Noite ainda, quando ela me pedia

Entre dois beijos que me fosse embora,

Eu, com os olhos em lágrimas, dizia:

"Espera ao menos que desponte a aurora!

Tua alcova é cheirosa como um ninho ...

E olha que escuridão há lá por fora!

Como queres que eu vá, triste e sozinho,

Casando a treva e o frio de meu peito

Ao frio e à treva que há pelo caminho?!

Ouves? é o vento! é um temporal desfeito!

Não me arrojes à chuva e à tempestade!

Não me exiles do vale do teu leito!

Morrerei de aflição e de saudade ...

Espera! até que o dia resplandeça,

Aquece-me com a tua mocidade!

Sobre o teu colo deixa-me a cabeça

Repousar, como lia pouco repousava ...

Espera um pouco! deixa que amanheça!"

—E ela abria-me os braços. E eu ficava.

II

E, já manhã, quando ela me pedia

Que de seu claro corpo me afastasse,

Eu, com os olhos em lágrimas, dizia:

"Não pode ser! não vês que o dia nasce?

A aurora, em fogo e sangue, as nuvens corta ...

Que diria de ti quem me encontrasse?

Ah! nem me digas que isso pouco importa!.

Que pensariam, vendo-me, apressado,

Tão cedo assim, saindo a tua porta,

Vendo-me exausto, pálido, cansado,

E todo pelo aroma de teu beijo

Escandalosamente perfumado?

O amor, querida, não exclui o pejo ...

Espera! até que o sol desapareça,

Beija-me a boca! mata-me o desejo!

Sobre o teu colo deixa-me a cabeça

Repousar, como há pouco repousava!

Espera um pouco! deixa que anoiteça!"

—E ela abria-me os braços. E eu ficava.

Tercets

 

Still night it was, when first she said to me

Between two kisses that I could not stay,

And I, with tear-filled eyes, began to plea:

 

"At least please wait until the break of day!

Your room's a fragrant nest, my heart is glad ...

And see what darkness hovers out that way!

 

I low can you turn me out, alone and sad,

To wed the night and cold that's in my breast

With that cold night with which the road is clad?!

 

Hear? it's the wind! a storm! the sky's distressed!

Don't throw me out into the rain-swept gale!

Don't ban me from your bed, let me find rest!

 

I´ll die of heartbreak and from yearning fail...

Oh wait! until the sun bursts forth, I pray,

Come warm me with your youth, I´m cold and pale!

 

And on your lap permit my head to lay

As once it did before you had complained ...

Please wait a while! let night turn into day!"

 

—And she held out her arms. And I remained.

 

II

 

And, then came morning, when she said to me

That I must leave her side and go away,

And I, with tear-filled eyes, began to plea:

 

"Oh this can't be! can you not see it's day?

For dawn, with fire and blood, the clouds has chased…

And were I caught, of you what would they say?

 

Don't tell! it matters not; it's best erased!...

But please, what would they think if l were sent,

At early morning, from your door in haste,

 

And seeing me exhausted, pale and spent,

Ali caused by the aroma of your kiss

So scandalously filled with fragrant scent?

 

Our love, dear, cannot modesty dismiss ...

Oh wait! until the sun has gone, I pray,

Come kiss my lips! come quench the fire of bliss!

 

And on your lap permit my head to lay

As once it did before you had complained!

Please wait a while! let night erase the day!"

 

—And she held out her arms. And I remained.

 

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Sonnet XIII
From the Milky Way series)

Ora (direis) ouvir estrelas! Certo

Perdeste o senso!" E eu vos direi, no entanto,

Que, para ouvi-las, muita vez desperto,

E abro as janelas, pálido de espanto ...

E conversamos toda a noite, enquanto

A via-láctea, como um pálio aberto,

Cintila. E, ao vir do sol, saudoso e em pranto,

Inda as procuro pelo céu deserto.

Direis agora: "Tresloucado amigo!

Que conversas com elas? Que sentido

Tem o que dizem, quando estão contigo?"

E eu vos direi: "Amai para entendê-las!

Pois só quem ama pode ter ouvido

Capaz de ouvir e de entender estrelas."

Sonnet XIII

(From the Milky Way series)

"Oh come now (you will say) hear stars! It's clear

You've lost your mind!" I´ll tell you anyway,

I often wake to hear what they will say,

I push my windows open, pale with tear ...

And we converse throughout the night, while high

The Milky Way, like outspread robes, appears

To shine. At dawn, with longing and in tears,

I seek them still throughout the empty sky.

And next you'll say: "My poor, demented friend

What do you say to them? And tell me, pray,

What do they say when they your ears do bend?

I´m tell you: "You must love to comprehend!

For only lie who loves has ears which may

Perceive and grasp the messages stars send."

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Língua portuguesa

Última flor do Lácio, inculta e bela,

És, a um tempo, esplendor e sepultura:

Ouro nativo, que na ganga impura

A bruta mina entre os cascalhos vela ...

Amo-te assim, desconhecida e obscura,

Tuba de alto clangor, lira singela,

Que tens o trom e o silvo da procela,

E o arrolo da saudade e da ternura!

Amo o teu viço agreste e o teu aroma

De virgens selvas e de oceano largo!

Amo-te, ó rude e doloroso idioma,

Em que da voz materna ouvi: "meu filho!"

E em que Camões chorou, no exílio amargo,

O gênio sem ventura e o amor sem brilho!

The Portuguese Language

Last flower of Latium, wild, uncultured, fair,

You are, at once, both splendor and the grave:

Pure gold, the gangue's impurities don't bare

A mine that´s veiled 'mid rocks and graveled.

I love you thus, unknown, obscure and hidden,

A blaring trumpet, lyre of guilelessness,

Whose fury's like the sea that's tempest ridden,

Whose lullabies are love and tenderness!

I love your lush green woods and perfume wrung,

From virgin jungles and expansive sea!

I love you, rude and sorrowful native tongue,

In which my mother said: "dear son of mine!"

In which Camões bemoaned, grieved exile he,

His luckless genius and love's tarnished shine!

                 
                    =============================

Velhas árvores

Olha estas velhas árvores, mais belas

Do que as árvores novas, mais amigas:

Tanto mais belas quanto mais antigas,

Vencedoras da idade e das procelas ...

O homem, a fera, e o inseto, à sombra delas

Vivem, livres de fomes e fadigas;

E em seus galhos abrigam-se as cantigas

E os amores das aves tagarelas.

Não choremos, amigo, a mocidade!

Envelheçamos rindo! envelheçamos

Como as árvores fortes envelhecem:

Na glória da alegria e da bondade,

Agasalhando os pássaros nos ramos,

Dando sombra e consolo aos que padecem!

Old Trees

Look at these old trees, more lovely these

Than younger trees, more friendly too by far:

More beautiful the older that they are,

Victorious over age and stormy seas ...

The beasts, the insects, man, under the tree

Have lived, and been from toil and hunger free;

And in its higher branches safe and sound

Incessant songs of birds and love are found.

Our youth now lost, my friend, let's not bemoan!

Let's laugh as we grow old! let us grow old

As do the trees, so nobly, strong and bold:

Enjoy the glorious kindness we have sown,

And succor in our branches those who seek,

The shade and comfort offered to the weak!

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A pátria

Ama, com fé e orgulho, a terra em que nasceste!

Criança! não verás nenhum país como este!

Olha que céu! que mar! que rios! que floresta!

A Natureza, aqui, perpetuamente em festa,

E um seio de mãe a transbordar carinhos.

Vê que vida há no chão! vê que vida há nos ninhos,

Que se balançam no ar, entre os ramos inquietos!

Vê que luz, que calor, que multidão de insetos!

Vê que grande extensão de matas, onde impera

Fecunda e luminosa, a eterna primavera!

Boa terra! jamais negou a quem trabalha

O pão que mata a fome, o teto que agasalha ...

Quem com o seu suor a fecunda e umedece,

Vê pago o seu esforço, e é feliz, e enriquece!

Criança! não verás país nenhum como este:

Imita na grandeza a terra em que nasceste!

Native Land

Love your native land with faithful pride and care!

Child! you'11 never see a land like this so fair!

See what skies! what rivers! forests! and  what sea!

Nature celebrating, here, perpetually,

A mother's bosom overflowing warmth and love.

See what life upon the ground! in nests above,

Which sway among the moving branches in the air!

See what light, what heat, what clouds of insects there!

See the great expanse of jungle that presides

Where fertile, luminous, eternal spring resides!

Good land! that never has denied to man  its favors

Of raiment, shelter, daily bread to him who labors…

He who pays the price with sweat and tears shall see,

His work repaid, and rich and happy he will be!

Child! you'11 never see a land like this so fair:

Imitate the greatness of your land with care!