Fernando Pessoa

Portuguese Sea / Mar Portugues










Horizon



Your fearfulness preceding us, O Sea, / O mar anterior a nos, teus medos

Was lodged in coral, shores, and masts. / Tinham coral e praias e arvoredos.

Once of night and fog, of bygone / Desvendadas a noite e a cerracao,

Tempests and the mystery, unveiled, / As tormentas passadas e o misterio,

Distance flowered, and the sideral South / Abria em flor o Longe, e o Sul siderio

Sparkled on initiated galleons. / Splendia sobre as naus da iniciacao.



That far-off rigid coastline - / Linha severa da longinqua costa -

When the ship approaches, the shore now rises / Quando a nau se aproxima ergue-se a encosta

With the trees, where the distance offered nothing; / Em arvores onde o Longe nada tinha;

Closer, land breaks into sounds and colors; / Mais perto, abre-se a terra em sons e cores;

As we disembark, come birds and flowers, / E, no desembarcar, ha aves, flores,

Where before was but a far-off abstract line. / Onde era so, de longe a abstracta linha.



To dream is to see from some vague distance / O sonho e ver as formas invisiveis

Shapes invisible, then with the quickened / Da distancia imprecisa, e, com sensiveis

Motion of one's hope and will, / Movimentos da espranca e da vontade,

To seek upon the cold horizon / Buscar na linha fria do horizonte

Tree and beach, flower, bird, and fountain - / A arvore, a praia, a flor, a ave, a fonte -

Those kisses Truth awards. / Os beijos merecidos da Verdade.



Lisboa