7. (from The Complete Works of Alberto Caeiro)

​From my village I can see as much of the earth as can be seen from the universe.
That's why my village is as big as any land,
because I am the size of what I see
and not the size of my height.

In cities life is smaller 
than here in my house halfway up this hill.
In the city the big buildings hide the view,
obscure the horizon, force our eyes to look away from the sky,
they make us small because they stunt our ability to see
and make us poor because our only wealth is seeing.

​7.

​Da minha aldeia vejo quanto da terra se pode vêr do universo . . .
Porisso a minha aldeia é tão grande como outra terra qualquér,
Porque eu sou do tamanho do que vejo
E não do tamanho da minha altura . . .

Nas cidades a vida é mais pequena
Que aqui na minha casa a meio d’este outeiro.
Na cidade as grandes casas prendem a vista á chave,
Escondem o horizonte, empurram o nosso olhar para longe de todo o céu,
Tornam-nos pequenos porque nos tiram todo o tamanho para podermos olhar,
E tornam-nos pobres porque a nossa unica riqueza é vêr.

14. (from The Complete Works of Alberto Caeiro)

​I couldn’t care less about rhymes. Never
have there been two trees the same, standing side by side.
I think and write the way flowers have color
but with less perfection in how I express myself
because I lack the natural simplicity
of being entirely my exterior.
I watch and am moved,
moved the way water flows when the ground slopes,
and what I write is as natural as the rising wind.

14.

​Não me importo com as rimas. Nenhumas vezes
Ha duas arvores eguaes, uma ao lado da outra.
Penso e escrevo como as flôres teem côr
Mas com menos perfeição no meu modo de exprimir-me
Porque me falta a simplicidade natural
De ser todo só o meu exterior.
Olho e commovo-me,
Commovo-me como a agua corre quando o chão é inclinado,
E o que escrevo é natural como o levantar-se vento . . .
Fernando Pessoa was a Portuguese poet, writer, translator, and critic. He is widely regarded as one of the most important literary figures of the 20th century.
Daniel Carden Nemo's work has been long-listed for the Best Literary Translations (Deep Vellum) and has appeared in RHINO, Full Stop, Magma Poetry, Sontag Mag, Off the Coast, and elsewhere.