Poem
Fernando Pessoa
The Keeper of Sheep XLVII
On an incredibly clear day,The kind when you wish you\'d done lots of work
So that you wouldn\'t have to work that day,
I saw – as if spotting a road through the trees –
What may well be the Great Secret,
That Great Mystery the false poets speak of.
I saw that there is no Nature,
That Nature doesn\'t exist,
That there are hills, valleys and plains,
That there are trees, flowers and grass,
That there are rivers and stones,
But that there is no whole to which all this belongs,
That a true and real ensemble
Is a disease of our own ideas.
Nature is parts without a whole.
This is perhaps the mystery they speak of.
This is what, without thinking or pausing,
I realized must be the truth
That everyone tries to find but doesn\'t find
And that I alone found, because I didn\'t try to find it.
© Translation: 1998, Richard Zenith
From: Fernando Pessoa & Co. – Selected Poems
Publisher: Grove Press, New York, 1998
From: Fernando Pessoa & Co. – Selected Poems
Publisher: Grove Press, New York, 1998
O Guardador de Rebanhos XLVII
O Guardador de Rebanhos XLVII
Num dia excessivamente nítido,Dia em que dava a vontade de ter trabalhado muito
Para nele não trabalhar nada,
Entrevi, como uma estrada por entre as árvores,
O que talvez seja o Grande Segredo,
Aquele Grande Mistério de que os poetas falsos falam.
Vi que não há Natureza,
Que Natureza não existe,
Que há montes, vales, planícies,
Que há árvores, flores, ervas,
Que há rios e pedras,
Mas que não há um todo a que isso pertença,
Que um conjunto real e verdadeiro
É uma doença das nossas ideias.
A Natureza é partes sem um todo.
Isto é talvez o tal mistério de que falam.
Foi isto o que sem pensar nem parar,
Acertei que devia ser a verdade
Que todos andam a achar e que não acham,
E que só eu, porque a não fui achar, achei.
© 1914, Alberto Caeiro (Fernando Pessoa)
From: Poesia
Publisher: Assírio & Alvim, Lisbon
From: Poesia
Publisher: Assírio & Alvim, Lisbon
Poems
Poems of Fernando Pessoa
Close
The Keeper of Sheep XLVII
On an incredibly clear day,The kind when you wish you\'d done lots of work
So that you wouldn\'t have to work that day,
I saw – as if spotting a road through the trees –
What may well be the Great Secret,
That Great Mystery the false poets speak of.
I saw that there is no Nature,
That Nature doesn\'t exist,
That there are hills, valleys and plains,
That there are trees, flowers and grass,
That there are rivers and stones,
But that there is no whole to which all this belongs,
That a true and real ensemble
Is a disease of our own ideas.
Nature is parts without a whole.
This is perhaps the mystery they speak of.
This is what, without thinking or pausing,
I realized must be the truth
That everyone tries to find but doesn\'t find
And that I alone found, because I didn\'t try to find it.
© 1998, Richard Zenith
From: Fernando Pessoa & Co. – Selected Poems
Publisher: 1998, Grove Press, New York
From: Fernando Pessoa & Co. – Selected Poems
Publisher: 1998, Grove Press, New York
The Keeper of Sheep XLVII
On an incredibly clear day,The kind when you wish you\'d done lots of work
So that you wouldn\'t have to work that day,
I saw – as if spotting a road through the trees –
What may well be the Great Secret,
That Great Mystery the false poets speak of.
I saw that there is no Nature,
That Nature doesn\'t exist,
That there are hills, valleys and plains,
That there are trees, flowers and grass,
That there are rivers and stones,
But that there is no whole to which all this belongs,
That a true and real ensemble
Is a disease of our own ideas.
Nature is parts without a whole.
This is perhaps the mystery they speak of.
This is what, without thinking or pausing,
I realized must be the truth
That everyone tries to find but doesn\'t find
And that I alone found, because I didn\'t try to find it.
© 1998, Richard Zenith
From: Fernando Pessoa & Co. – Selected Poems
Publisher: 1998, Grove Press, New York
From: Fernando Pessoa & Co. – Selected Poems
Publisher: 1998, Grove Press, New York
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