clair-obscur de jean cocteau.

Carta de Jean Cocteau a Jean-Pierre Rosnay.

[outras tantas aqui].

Aproveitei-me, confesso, de certos acidentes

Do mistério e de erros de cálculos celestes.

Aí está toda a minha poesia: eu decalco

O invisível (o que para vós é invisível).

Ao crime disfarçado em trajo desumano,

«Mãos ao ar!», gritei eu, «É inútil reagir»;

A encantos informes tratei de dar contorno;

Das astúcias da morte a traição informou-me;

Com tinta azul fiz aparecer, de súbito,

Fantasmas transformados em árvores azuis.

Será louco dizer que é simples ou sem perigo

Empresa semelhante. Incomodar os anjos!

Descobrir o acaso em flagrante delito

De batota, e as estátuas a tentarem andar!

Por cima de cidades que pareciam desertas,

Nos mirantes aonde somente chega a voz

Dos galos, das escolas, buzinas de automóveis

(Os únicos ruídos que das cidades sobem),

Surpreendi, provindos dos subúrbios do céu,

Assombrosos rumores, gritos de outra Marselha.

«Par lui-même", VV 1-20, Opéra», 1927;

in Vozes da Poesia Europeia – III. Trad. de David Mourão-Ferreira.

_______________________the raven.

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door." 'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door;Only this, and nothing more."
Ah, distinctly I remember, it was in the bleak December,And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.Eagerly I wished the morrow; vainly I had sought to borrowFrom my books surcease of sorrow, sorrow for the lost Lenore,.For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore,
Nameless here forevermore.
And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtainThrilled me---filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating," 'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door,Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door.
This it is, and nothing more."
Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,"Sir," said I, "or madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;But the fact is, I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,That I scarce was sure I heard you." Here I opened wide the door;---
Darkness there, and nothing more.
Deep into the darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearingDoubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before;But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,And the only word there spoken was the whispered word,Lenore?, This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word,
"Lenore!" Merely this, and nothing more.
Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,Soon again I heard a tapping, something louder than before,"Surely," said I, "surely, that is something at my window lattice.Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore.Let my heart be still a moment, and this mystery explore.
" 'Tis the wind, and nothing more."
Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,In there stepped a stately raven, of the saintly days of yore.Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;But with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door.Perched upon a bust of Pallas, just above my chamber door,
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.
Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven thou," I said, "art sure no craven,Ghastly, grim, and ancient raven, wandering from the nightly shore.Tell me what the lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore."
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."
Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,Though its answer little meaning, little relevancy bore;For we cannot help agreeing that no living human beingEver yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door,Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as "Nevermore."
But the raven, sitting lonely on that placid bust, spoke onlyThat one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.Nothing further then he uttered; not a feather then he fluttered;Till I scarcely more than muttered,"Other friends have flown before;On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before."
Then the bird said,"Nevermore."
Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,"Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store,Caught from some unhappy master, whom unmerciful disasterFollowed fast and followed faster, till his songs one burden bore,---Till the dirges of his hope that melancholy burden bore
Of "Never---nevermore."
But the raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling,Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door;,Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linkingFancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore,What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking, "Nevermore."
Thus I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressingTo the fowl, whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease recliningOn the cushion's velvet lining that the lamplight gloated o'er,But whose velvet violet lining with the lamplight gloating o'er
She shall press, ah, nevermore!
Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censerSwung by seraphim whose footfalls tinkled on the tufted floor."Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee -- by these angels he hathSent thee respite---respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!Quaff, O quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore!"
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore!"
"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil!--prophet still, if bird or devil!Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,Desolate, yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted--On this home by horror haunted--tell me truly, I implore:Is there--is there balm in Gilead?--tell me--tell me I implore!"
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."
"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil--prophet still, if bird or devil!By that heaven that bends above us--by that God we both adore--Tell this soul with sorrow laden, if, within the distant Aidenn,It shall clasp a sainted maiden, whom the angels name Lenore---Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels name Lenore?
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."
"Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!" I shrieked, upstarting--"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul spoken!Leave my loneliness unbroken! -- quit the bust above my door!Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!"
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."
And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sittingOn the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming.And the lamplight o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted--- nevermore!

Edgar Allan Poe, 1845.

sur l'onde calme et noire où dorment les étoiles,la blanche ophélia flotte comme un grand lys.

«L'étoile a pleuré rose au coeur de tes oreilles,
L'infini roulé blanc de ta nuque à tes reins;
La mer a perlé rousse à tes mammes vermeilles
Et L'Homme a saigné noir à ton flanc souverain.»

L'étoile a pleuré rose de Arthur Rimbaud.

canto. berro. grito. e canto.

Atreve-te a julgar.
Julga os outros julgando-te a ti mesmo.
A natureza das coisas é a tua natureza.
Respira-te, despe-te,
faz amor com as tuas convicções,
não te limites a sorrir
quando não sabes mais o que dizer.
Os teus dentes
estão lavados, as tuas mãos são amáveis
mas falta-te
decisão nos passos e firmeza nos gestos.
Procura-te. Procura encontrar-te antes que
te agarre a voracidade do tempo.
Faz as coisas com paixão.
Uma paixão irrequieta que não te dê descanso
e te faça doer a respiração.
Aspira o ar, bebe-o com força, é teu,
nem um cêntimo pagarás por ele.
Quanto deves é à vida, o que deves é a ti mesmo.
Canta.
Canta a água e a montanha e o pescoço do rio,
e o beijo que deste e o beijo que darás, canta
o trabalho doce da abelha e a paciência
com que crescem as árvores,
canta cada momento que partilhas com amigos,
e cada amigo
como um astro que desponta
no firmamento breve do teu corpo.
E canta o amor. E canta tudo o que tiveres razão para cantar.
E o que não souberes e o que não entenderes, canta.
Não fujas da alegria.
A própria dor ajuda-te a medir
a felicidade. Carrega nos teus ombros os séculos passados
e os séculos vindouros,
muito do pó que sacodes já foi vida,
talvez beleza, orgulho, pedaços de prazer.
A estrela que contemplas talvez já não exista, quem sabe,
o que te ajudou a ser vida de quantas vidas precisou.
Canta!
Se sentires medo, canta.
Mas se em ti não couber a alegria, não pares de cantar.
Canta. Canta. Canta. Canta. Canta.
Constrói o teu amor, vive o teu amor,
ama o teu amor. De tudo o que as pessoas querem,
o que mais querem é o amor.
Sem ele, nada nunca foi igual, nada é igual,
nada será igual alguma vez.
Canta. Enquanto esperas, canta.
Canta quando não quiseres esperar.
Canta se não encontrares mais esperança.
E canta quando a esperança te encontrar.
Canta porque te apetece cantar e
porque gostas de cantar e
porque sentes que é preciso cantar.
E canta quando já não for preciso.
Canta porque és livre.
E c a n t a s e t e f a l t a a l i b e r d a d e.

in Vou-me embora de mim, de Joaquim Pessoa