Afonso Henrique da Costa Guimarães
(1870 – 1921)
Afonso Henrique da Costa Guimarães started to sign Alphonsus de Guimaraens in 1894. Miner from the outskirts of Ouro Preto and Mariana, he had almost all his life linked to this region of Minas, where he exercised the magistracy. He was thus known as Mariana's Solitaire.
A fact that marked his adolescence and his work was the premature death of his cousin, Constança, with whom he was in love. Your religiosity intensifies; verses from him emerge simple, leisurely, intimate, but always sublime and beautiful, sonorous and musical. The suffering that is part of his life can be seen in everything, supported by a very consistent faith. All very involved by two great springs of poetry, love and death. Above all, he is unsurpassed in the melody, in the singing, in the sonority with which he covers his verses.
Here is one of her most famous poems:
The cathedral
Amidst mists, in the distance, the dawn appears.
The hyaline dew gradually evaporates,
The afterglow agonizes.
The Eburne Cathedral of my dream
Appear, in the peace of the smiling sky,
All white with the sun.
And the bell sings in mournful responses:
"Poor Alphonsus! Poor Alphonsus!"
The glorious star follows the eternal road.
A golden arrow shines in each
Effulgent ray of light.
The ebony cathedral of my dream,
Where my tired eyes put,
Receive the blessing of Jesus.
And the bell cries out in mournful responses:
"Poor Alphonsus! Poor Alphonsus!"
Through lilies and lilacs it descends
The elusive afternoon: bitter prayer
Set the moon to pray.
The Eburne Cathedral of my dream
Appear, in the peace of the sad sky,
All white with moonlight.
The sky is all darkness: the wind howls.
From lightning to red hair
Come whip my face.
And the eburne cathedral of my dream
sink into the ghastly sky case
Like a dead star.
And the bell moans in mournful responses:
"Poor Alphonsus! Poor Alphonsus!"
(Alphonsus de Guimaraens)
Rodrigo Gambera
Source: http://www.dec.ufcg.edu.br/biografias/
Order A - Biography - Brazil School
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/biografia/afonso-henrique-da-costa-guimaraes.htm
