THE Language of Parnassianism it is classic, objective, rational, impersonal, refined, descriptive and realistic.
She seeks aesthetic perfection and the cult of form, thus using rare vocabulary and resources such as metrification, versification, fixed poetic structures (sonnet, for example), rich, rare and perfect rhymes.
Parnassianism
O Parnassianism it represented a poetic movement that emerged in Europe from the 19th century onwards.
In Brazil, the starting point of Parnassianism was the publication of the work “fanfares”, by Teófilo Dias (1889), remaining until 1922, when the Week of Modern Art begins or the beginning of the modernist movement.
With an anti-romantic content, the parnassian poetry rescues rationalism thus moving away from sentimentality as well as from the dreamy and idealist phase of the previous period: Romanticism.
In this way, in Parnassianism the beauty of the forms, the rigor to the meter and the aesthetic prevail with highlighting classic themes linked to mythology where "art for art's sake" becomes its motto main.
Main Representatives
The main Brazilian writers of the Parnassian movement and who together formed the “Parnasian Triad” are:
- olavo bilac (1865-1918): Born in Rio de Janeiro, Olavo Bilac is one of the greatest representatives of the Parnassian movement in Brazil. Considered “Prince of Brazilian Poets”, he was known for his sonnets. Of his literary work, the following deserve mention: Poesias (1888), Via Láctea (1888), Chronicles and Novels (1894).
- Raimundo Correa (1859-1911): poet from Maranhão, Raimundo Correia was one of the greatest representatives of Parnassianism, even though his work has romantic aspects. Of his poetic work, the following deserve special mention: First Dreams (1879), Verses and Versions (1887) and Poetry (1898).
- Alberto de Oliveira (1857-1937): Born in the interior of Rio de Janeiro (Saquarema), Alberto de Oliveira completes the triad of the greatest Parnassian writers. In his first book “Canções Românticas”, published in 1878, the romantic influence is still notorious. Of his work, the following deserve special mention: Meridionals (1884), Verses and Rhymes (1895) and Poetry (1900).
Parnassian Poetry: Examples
To better understand the language of Parnassianism, below are some examples:
Sonnet "Portuguese language” by Olavo Bilac
Lazio's last flower, uncultivated and beautiful,
You are, at the same time, splendor and grave:
Native gold, which in impure denim
The crude mine among the gravel sails...
I love you like this, unknown and obscure.
Loud tuba, simple lyre,
That you have the trumpet and the hiss of the storm,
And the list of nostalgia and tenderness!
I love your wild freshness and your aroma
Of virgin jungles and the wide ocean!
I love thee, O rude and painful language,
in which from the maternal voice I heard: “my son!”,
And when Camões wept, in bitter exile,
The blissless genius and the lackluster love!
Sonnet "the doves” by Raimundo Correia
The first awakened dove is gone...
There's another one... another one... finally dozens
From doves go from the doves, only
Bloody and fresh streak at dawn...
And in the afternoon, when the rigid nortada
Blow, to the lofts again, serene,
Fluttering the wings, shaking the feathers,
They all return in flocks and flocks...
Also from the hearts where they button,
Dreams, one by one, swiftly fly,
How the doves of the dovecotes fly;
In the blue of adolescence, the wings release,
Flee... But to the doves the doves return,
And they don't return to their hearts...
Sonnet "Revenge of the Door” by Alberto de Oliveira
It was an old habit he had:
enter with the door in the frame
— "What has this door done to you?" the woman came
and interrogated... He, gritting his teeth:
- "Nothing! Bring dinner." "But in the evening
calmed down; happy, the innocents
the daughter's eyes and the little head
She caresses him, laughing, with rough shaking hands.
Once, when returning home, when
raised the knocker, the heart speaks to him
— "It comes in slower..." He stops, hesitating...
In this the old door creaks on the hinges,
laughs, opens up. And he sees in the room
the woman as crazy and the daughter dead.
Read too:
- Characteristics of Parnassianism
- parnassian triad
- Parnassianism and Symbolism
