Camilo Pessanha: "Foi um dia de inúteis agonias."

I've been sitting on this translation for a couple weeks, trying to produce a version that isn't so literal, but Pessanha's imagery doesn't lends itself to easy translation since it's highly symbolic and I won't claim to know what the symbols represent, seeing as how I'm the world's worst English major and the symbols aren't necessarily geared toward English-speakers in the first place. I consider all my translations works in progress, though, so the day may come when I revise them. If I do so, they'll end up on my homepage, with notice given here.

If you don't speak Portuguese, yet find yourself intrigued by the original poem and/or doubting my translation thereof, you may feel compelled to learn enough of that awesome language to read the poem yourself- or you could consult Adam Mahler's collection of Pessanha translations, as it turns out that not only are there are others out there translating the poems of Macau's preeminent opium addict, but they're doing a fine job of it, too (complete with notes about Pessanha's life that I've never seen in English). Alas, his selection of poems is slight- the one below isn't included- but I'd wager that there will be more in the future, given the translator's love of Pessanha's work.

The most important thing, of course, is that you enjoy the poetry itself, and so I give you the untitled poem that begins "Foi um dia de inúteis agonias." I hope I've done Senhor Pessanha justice.

Boa leitura, amigos, e até breve!

微臣
史大偉

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Foi um dia de inúteis agonias.
Dia de sol, inundado de sol!...
Fulgiam nuas as espadas frias...
Dia de sol, inundado de sol!...

Foi um dia de falsas alegrias.
Dália a esfolhar-se, — o seu mole sorriso...
Voltavam os ranchos das romarias.
Dália a esfolhar-se, — o seu mole sorriso...

Dia impressível mais que os outros dias.
Tão lúcido... Tão pálido... Tão lúcido!...
Difuso de teoremas, de teorias...

O dia fútil mais que os outros dias!
Minuete de discretas ironias...
Tão lúcido... Tão pálido... Tão lúcido!...

***


It was a day of useless agonies.
A day of sun, flooded with sun!...
The cold swords shone, naked...
A day of sun, flooded with sun!

It was a day of false pleasures.
The leafless dahlia, — her indolent smile...
The crowds returned from the festivals.
The leafless dahlia, — her indolent smile...

A day more impressionable than other days.
So clear... so pallid... so lucid!
Diffusion of theorems, of theories...

The day more futile than other days!
Minuet of discreet ironies...
So clear... so pallid... so lucid!