Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen

Portuguese poet and writer (1919-2004)

Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen (November 6, 1919July 2, 2004) was an award-winning Portuguese poet and writer.

Quotes

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  • Lisbon, that name of being and non-being
    With its secret meanders of amazement, insomnia, and tin shacks
    And secret glitter of something theatrical
    Its conniving smile of intrigue and masks
    While the wide ocean dilates west
    Lisbon rocking like a great boat
    Lisbon cruelly built along its own absence
    • "Lisbon", in Marine Rose: Selected Poems (1988), trans. Ruth Fainlight, p. 59.

O Nome das Coisas (1977)

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This is the dawn I waited for
The new day clean and whole
When we emerge from night and silence
To freely inhabit the substance of time
  • Esta é a madrugada que eu esperava
    O dia inicial inteiro e limpo
    Onde emergimos da noite e do silêncio
    E livres habitamos a substância do tempo
    • This is the dawn I waited for
      The new day clean and whole
      When we emerge from night and silence
      To freely inhabit the substance of time
    • "25 de Abril" ("25th April 1974"), in Log Book: Selected Poems, trans. ‎Richard Zenith (Carcanet, 1997), p. 78
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