Manuel Bandeira was born in 1886 and died in 1968. In youth, their fragile health due to tuberculosis, led the poet to a life of insecurity about the future. Nevertheless, in 1917 he published his first book of poetry: the gray of the hours. O characterdingy of this work is linked to autobiographical elements, as it was written during the period in which the poet struggled against his illness.
Despite starting his literary career with poems in which the traces of poetry were evident parnassian and symbolist, Flag was part of first generation modernist. So, in 1930, he published the book Debauchery, in which the characteristics of this style, such as the use of free verses and the freedom of creation and language were present, in addition to the theme of daily. His most famous poems are the frogs and I'm leaving for Pasargada.
Read too: Oswald de Andrade – another great writer of the first modernist phase
Manuel Bandeira Biography
Manuel Bandeira was born in April 19, 1886, in Recife. He was a poet, teacher, translator and critic. From 1904 onwards, he began to present health problems related to
tuberculosis. Because of this, he sought to live in cities with an appropriate climate for treating the disease. So he had a stay in campaign (Minas Gerais), in addition to Teresópolis and Petropolis (Rio de Janeiro). In 1913, he entered the sanatorium of clavadel, at Switzerland, where he stayed for months.
in 1917, the writer published his first book: the gray of the hours. In these poems, the melancholy it shows itself a lot in terms of the poet's illness. As we can verify in the poem disenchantment, written in 1912:
I make verses like someone crying
From dismay... of disenchantment...
Close my book if for now
You have no reason to cry.
My verse is blood. Burning lust...
Scattered sadness... vain remorse...
It hurts in my veins. Bitter and hot,
It falls, drop by drop, from the heart.
And in these verses of hoarse anguish
That's how life flows from the lips,
Leaving an acrid flavor in the mouth.
— I make verses like someone who dies.
The writer did not directly participate in the Modern Art Week of 1922. Your poem "The frogs", from your book Carnival (1919), was declared by the poet Ronald de Carvalho (1893-1935). However, Bandeira wrote texts for magazines linked to the modernist movement, like: Klaxon, Journal of Anthropophagy, Green Lantern, Purple Earth and The magazine.
In 1937 he received the Felipe d'Oliveira Society award and, in 1946, the award from the Brazilian Institute of Education and Culture, both for the whole of the work. Furthermore, on August 29, 1940, he was elected the third occupant of the Chair 24 gives Brazilian Academy of Letters.
Manuel Bandeira, in addition to poetry and chronicles, wrote criticism literary, musical, film and plastic arts. It was also a translator from, among other works: Macbeth, in William Shakespeare (1564-1616); D. Juan Tenório, by José Zorilla (1817-1893); and devil's advocate, by Morris West (1916-1999).
the poet died in October 13, 1968, in Rio de Janeiro. On April 19, 1986, in celebration of the centenary of his birth, the Space Pasargada, in the mansion where Bandeira had lived from six to 10 years old, in Recife. The house is open for research and literary events and has the Manuel Bandeira collection.
See too: Biography of Machado de Assis – our realist author
Manuel Bandeira's literary characteristics
Although he is best known for his connection with the brazilian modernism, Manuel Bandeira's first poems have characteristics of the parnassianism It's from symbolism. Then, the poet joined the modernism and also produced poetry concretist, like:
Manuel Bandeira's modernist poetry is located in the so-called first modernist generation. As a characteristic of this generation, it is possible to observe freedom of creation, predominance of free verses, approximation between speaking and writing, in addition to regionalist elements. your work Debauchery it is considered fully modernist, in open opposition to traditional academic art, and marked by the theme of everyday life.
Thus, according to Wilson José Flores Jr., PhD in Letters, Bandeira's production is divided into three phases.
→ A first "would understand the gray of the hours (1917), Carnival (1919) and the dissolute rhythm (1924), would be characterized by the strong presence of elements of the Parnassian-Symbolist tradition, being, therefore, still somewhat conventional or, for some, 'pre-modernist'”.
→ A Monday "covers Debauchery (1930) and Morning Star (1936), would introduce the mature poet, not only for having mastered his technique and 'crystallized' his style (which would be characterized, above all, by the way stripped, humble, delicate way of talking about things and to unravel the poetic sublime from the most banal things), as well as to give expression to properly modern (or modernist) poetry”.
→ Already the third — of which they would be part Lira of the fifties (1940), beautiful beautiful (1948), Mafua do Malungo (1948), translated poems (1948), Opus 10 (1952) and afternoon star (1963) — “would be an expression of the continuation of these achievements (combined with a relative revival of classical principles, on the one hand, and by sparse experiments, on the other), in which some great poems recount, but no great unfolding”.
See too: Anguish: novel by Graciliano Ramos
Main works by Manuel Bandeira
Next, the books in prose by Manuel Bandeira, in chronological order of publication:
Chronicles of the province of Brazil (1937)
Ouro Preto Guide (1938)
Notions of Literature History (1940)
Hispanic American Literature (1949)
Gonçalves Dias (1952)
Pasargada Itinerary [memories] (1954)
of poets and poetry (1954)
paper flute (1957)
The vagabond kings and over 50 chronicles (1966)
swallow, swallow (1966)
Next, the books of poetry by Manuel Bandeira, in chronological order of publication:
the gray of the hours (1917)
Carnival (1919)
the dissolute rhythm (1924)
Debauchery (1930)
Morning Star (1936)
Lira of the fifties (1940)
beautiful beautiful (1948)
Mafua do Malungo (1948)
Opus 10 (1952)
afternoon star (1963)
We selected two famous poems by the author to analyze some excerpts. The first one is emblematic, as it is important in the history of Brazilian modernism, as it was highlighted in the Modern Art Week 1922 — “The Frogs” was published in the book Carnival, 1919.
The poem “Os Sapos”, by Manuel Bandeira, in ironic tone, do one criticism of the Parnassian poet. Parnassianism, a period style from the end of the 19th century, is marked by formal rigor (metrification and rhyme), social alienation, cult of beauty and objectivity. It is, therefore, academic, which opposes the ideals of the first modernist generation. Hence the fact that it was declaimed during the Week of Modern Art.
In the first stanza, the toads are shown with their puffed-up paps, that is, inflated. In this case, they are the Parnassian poets: vain and proud. The stanza ends with the indication that the light dazzles them, as they (the Parnassians) like to draw attention, to be in the spotlight:
Puffing up the conversations,
Come out of the dimness,
Jumping up, the frogs.
The light dazzles them.
Note that this quartet (verse with four lines) has rhyme, in addition to a minor round (verse with five poetic syllables). Despite the criticism, in this poem, Bandeira still did not adhere to the free verses. It must be remembered that such poetry was written in 1918 and published in 1919, before the Week of 22. However, the formal care can also be read as an irony.: as if the lyrical self were imitating (mocking) the style of poetry of the Parnassian poets.
From the third to the seventh stanza, the lyrical self reproduces the cooper frog's speech, which he calls the “watery Parnassian”. Thus, in stanza four, the frog (the Parnassian poet) prides himself on writing without “hiatus” (language addiction) and not rhyming cognate terms (of the same origin) — this means that it only makes rich rhymes (rhymes between words of grammatical classes different), much used by the Parnassians:
see like cousin
In eating the gaps!
What art! and I never laugh
The cognate terms.
In stanza six, the lyrical self mentions the lifetime of the Parnasianism: "fifty years". The style is known for defending rigidity in the composition of poems, which is why it is guided by the standard, as a rule. Thus, the lyrical self accuses this Parnassian poet of putting the poem in a mold|1|, that is, the “form” (structure) was reduced to a “form” (a mold), which would limit poetic creation:
goes for fifty years
Which I gave them the norm:
I reduced without damage
The shapes the shape.
Afterwards, the poem continues exposing parnassian features, as: “Great art is like/Jeweler's Work” (as the Parnassian poet argued that the poem should be “cut”, in search of perfection). And it ends with the mention of a certain cane toad, who would be “Far from this scream” of Parnassian frogs, “[...], fled to the world”, “Without glory, without faith”, “lonely”, “Transition of cold”, possibly Manuel Bandeira himself.
Now, let's analyze some excerpts from the poem “I'm leaving to Pasargada”, published in the book, 1930, Debauchery.
In this poem, we can see first generation modernist brands, such as the use of “pra” (colloquial) instead of “para” (formal) in “I'm leaving for Pasargadae”. Pasárgada is a place idealized by the lyrical self, where everything is perfect. As the first stanza says:
I'm leaving for Pasargada
I'm a friend of the king there
There I have the woman I want
in the bed i will choose
I'm leaving for Pasargada
note that there is a rhyme in this stanza (king/I will choose), and a few others will appear throughout the poem. We have another modernist brand, the no rigidity in relation to the structure of the poem, as can be seen in the stanza three, in which there is also only one rhyme (mar/count):
And how will I do gymnastics
I will ride a bike
I will ride a wild donkey
I will climb the tallow stick
I will bathe in the sea!
And when you're tired
I lie on the riverbank
I send for the mother of water
to tell me the stories
that in my time as a boy
rose came to tell me
I'm leaving for Pasargada
In addition, we can see another characteristic of modernism — the valorization of regional and national elements, such as: “brabo donkey”, “pau de sebo”, “mother-of-water”. From this perspective, Pasargada could be a metaphor for "Brazil". Thus, the lyrical self would idealize (in fact or ironically) its homeland.
Afterwards, the lyrical self continues talking about Pasárgada. At the end of the poem, he makes it clear that this place is a space for escape from reality, it is a idealization:
And when I'm sadder
But sad that there is no way
when at night give me
will to kill me
— There I am a friend of the king —
I will have the woman I want
in the bed i will choose
I'm leaving for Pasargada.
Note that the poem is written with verses in a larger round shape (seven poetic syllables), in addition to talking about an escape from reality and a idealized place. This type of verse was used a lot in the troubadour, during the Middle Ages, and also in the romanticism (which takes up medieval elements). Thus, another possible reading, for Bandeira's poem, may be in the understanding that his verses are, in fact, a irony, one criticism of romanticism; therefore, a critique of traditional art.
Grades
|1| According to the Portuguese Language Orthographic Agreement of 2008, the accent on the word “form” became optional. In two recent editions of Manuel Bandeira's poems consulted, we observed that the verse “A formas a forma” was kept, without alterations. Evidently, to keep the original meaning and not create ambiguities.
by Warley Souza
Literature teacher
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/literatura/manuel-bandeira.htm
