[In the following essay, Di Antonio contends that Drummond reveals his private thoughts often in his poetry, thus engaging the reader in an existential way.]

Eternal truths need a human language that alters with the spirit of the times. The primordial images undergo ceaseless transformations and yet ever remain the same …

Carl Gustav Jung¹

é sempre possível plantar una semente, acender una esperança

Jorge Amado²

Carlos Drummond de Andrade has long been a powerful literary force within Brazil. He possesses a rare poetic imagination worthy of increased international attention. It is his private realm that the poet is able to communicate and universalize. His writings end in an intimate relationship between reader and poet, defining and exploring the unique nature of contemporary man's existence.

Não sei se estou sofrendo
ou se é alguém que se diverte
por que não? na noite escassa
com um isolúvel flautim.
Entretanto há muito tempo
nós gritamos: sim! ao eterno.(3)

This highly personal vision of man's anguished, impotent, yet courageously resilient private self, emerges as the dominant motif in his poems. His writings attempt to find meaning in what he envisions to be a world “abandoned by God”.⁴ Much of Drummond's poetry is in the confessional mode, presenting a naked self, its inner feeling and insecurities.⁵

Sou apenas um homem.
Um homem pequenino à beira de un rio.

(191)

Sinto que o tempo sôbre mim abate
sua mão pesada. Rugas, dentes, calva …
Uma áceitação maior de tudo,
e o mêdo dé novas descobertas.

(188)

Prêso à minha classe e a algumas roupas,
vou de branco pela rua cinzenta.
Melancolias, mercadorias espreitam-me,
Devo seguir até o enjôo?
Posso, sem armas, revoltar-me?

(141)

In an era characterized as an age of anti-philosophy—an age devoid of purpose—the intimate and confessional poetry of Drummond de Andrade constitutes a breath of fresh air that straightforwardly focuses upon our times, exposing our fears, aspirations, and frailties.

Inútil você resistir
ou mesmo suicidar-se.
Não se mate, oh não se mate,
reserve-se todo para
as bodas que ninguém sabe
quando virão,
se é que virão …
O amor no escuro, não, no claro,
é sempre triste, meu filho, Carlos,
mas não diga nada a ninguém,
ninguém sabe nem saberá.

(93)

Drummond's poetry is highly existential in its thematic conception. However, unlike other existentialists, his world view is best characterized by a harshly candid private self that he makes known to his readers, readers with whom he freely shares his doubts and insecurities.

Nesta cidade do Rio,
de dois milhões de habitante,
estou sòzinho no quarto,
estou sòzinho na América.
De dois milhões de habitantes!
E nem precisava tanto …
Precisava de um amigo,
dêsses calados, distantes,
que lêem verso de Horácio
mas secretamente influem
na vida, no amor, na carne.
Estou só, não tenho amigo,
e a essa hora tardia como procurar amigo?

(135)

While aware of the poignancy of man's situation, Drummond adopts a humorous confessional pose, a semi-comic vulnerable persona to deal with crushing existential truths.

Quando nasci, um anjo torto
dêsses que vivem na sombra
disse: Vai, Carlos! ser ‘gauche’ na vida.

(179)

Vamos, não chores …
A infância está perdida.
A mocidade está perdida.
Mas a vida não se perdeu …

(180)

Algumas palavras duras,
em voz mansa, te golpearam.
Nunca, nunca cicatrizam.
Mas, e o ‘humour’?

(180)

This narrative attitude is not an evasion of reality for inherent in its conception is a strong sense of affirmation. Drummond, through his “poetics of confession”, perceives an increasing anonymity and loss of self. His work desires strongly to re-encounter man's vital sense of existence.

A injustiça não se resolve.
À sombra do mundo errado
murmuraste um protesto tímido.
Mas virão outros.
Tudo somado, devias
precipitar-te, de vez, nas águas.
Estás nu na areia, no vento …
Dorme, meu filho.

(180)

His poetic “I” becomes the cohesive matrix for the thematic currents of his work. It is a universal “I”, a type of poetic Everyman tinged with a forceful, yet sympathetic irony. He utilizes himself and his prosaic existence as the central consciousness of his writings.

Perdi o bonde e a esperança.
Volto pálido para casa.
A rua é inútil e nenhum auto
passaria sôbre meu corpo.

(84)

Dentaduras duplas!
Inda não sou bem velho
para merecer-vos …
Há que contentar-me
com uma ponte móvel
e esparsas coroas.

(85)

Meu amigo, vamos sofrer,
vamos beber, vamos ler jornal.
vamos dizer que a vida é ruim,
meu amigo, vamos sofrer.

(92)

The originality and poetic force of his work is rooted in the intuitive and personal resolutions that Drummond affords us of his private world.

Alguns anos vivi em Itabira.
Principalmente nasci em Itabira.
Por isso sou triste, orgulhoso: de ferro.
Noventa por cento de ferro nas calçadas.
Oitenta por cento de ferro nas almas.
E êsse alheamento do que na vida é porosidade e comunicação.

This work, “Confidência do Itabirano”, well illustrates the solipsistic and undefinable personalism of this poetry. It stresses the intimate relationship between poet and reader.

A vontade de amar, que me paralisa o trabalho,
vem de Itabira, de suas noites brancas, sem mulheres e sem
[horizontes.

(101)

The poet, in his direct use of language, attempts artfully to produce the impression of artlessness. His poetry is masterfully designed to draw the reader into his moment, his time, and to immerse him in the immediacy of the experience.

e o hábito de sofrer, que tanto me diverte,
é doce herança itabirana.

(101)

Tive ouro, tive gado, tive fazendas.
Hoje sou funcionário público.
Itabira é apenas uma fotografia na parede.
Mas como dói!

(101)

Drummond's poetry does not attempt to console man nor reform the world. His writings go far beyond this point. He offers no facile solutions for the absurdity of existence. His poetics is aimed at a means of facing life and presenting a world view that makes existence bearable. By picturing the human situation he is in effect, protesting against it. The art of writing becomes affirmative and liberating. His poetry is a quest to comprehend man's relationship to his universe. The openness of his verses asks his readers to go beyond his literature to gain from his writings a heightened sense of loyalty to a humanistic ethic.

A further understanding of Drummond's confessional poetry is found in the poem “Mãos dadas”, which easily serves as an “ars poetica”. The promulgation of a poetics is generally accomplished by the publishing of a single poem that serves as a manifesto. In this century significant new directions in Latin American poetry have been announced by Rubén Darío's “Blasón”, Vincente Huidobro's “Arte poética”, and González Martínez's “Tuércele el cuello al cisne”. All of these works expressed an avant-garde orientation However, these aforementioned manifestos are diametrically opposed in both form and thematic content to the simple intimacy of Drummond de Andrade's work. The title of Drummond's “ars poetica”, “Mãos dadas”, eloquently emphasizes the human element. His title summarizes brilliantly the idea of communication among men. According to Lawrence K. Frank in his study “Tactile Communication”, the sense of touch is the most primal and basic of all the human senses. Drummond specifically utilizes this tactile sense to convey his message of communication and social awareness. A forceful sense of agape⁶ is the central characteristic of this work.

Não serei o poeta de um mundo caduco.
Também não cantarei o mundo futuro.
Estou prêso à vida e olho meus companheiros.
Estão taciturnos mas nutrem grandes esperanças.
Entre êles, considero a enorme realidade.
O presente é tão grande, não nos afastemos.
Não nos afastemos muito, vamos de mãos dadas.

This poem is constructed on a “rejection-intention” polarity. The poet's statements of rejection acquire the force of an outright condemnation of the poets of his time. “Não serei o poeta de um mundo caduco … o mundo futuro … uma mulher … a paisagem vista da janela”.

The statement “Estou prêso à vida” is frought with meaning, for this image of being imprisoned in life is a frequent one in Drummond's poetry; “Prêso à minha classe e a algumas roupas”.⁷ It is highly existential in its conception, portraying modern man condemned to life. In essence, Drummond postulates that man must become “engagé”; he must, as Martin Buber states, reach out for the “other”. He shares Buber's belief that the meaning of life is discovered through human contact.

Não serei o cantor de uma mulher, de uma história,
não direi os suspiros ao anoitecer, a paisagem vista da janela,
não distribuirei entorpecentes ou cartas de suicida,
não fugirei para as ilhas nem serei raptado por serafins.
O tempo é a munha metéria, o tempo presente, os homens
[presentes,
a vida presente.

Drummond is able to look outside himself, “Olho meus companheiros”, to find hope in the brotherhood of all men, “Mas nutrem grandes esperanças”. He links his poetic mission to a self-awareness which in turn nourishes a sense of social consciousness. Man is the measure of all things in the poetry of Drummond. Only through a linking of the “I” of the poet with the “thou” of humanity can there be found a sense of transcendence.

In “Mãos dadas” Drummond confesses to be an activist; he is not the passive poet of the ivory tower, nor a poet of brilliant metaphors. Within Carlos Drummond de Andrade's own personal eschatology one finds no optimistic vision of salvation in another world. Drummond envisages a present world of hope, a hope born from the men who surround him, his “companheiros”, to when he extends his hand.

Communication is Drummond's vehicle for expressing the indominableness of the human spirit. He offers man “communion with others” as a foundation for a new humanism. His poetry is a personal communication in and of itself, and as such becomes a positive gesture, one which affirms his faith in art as a liberating force.

Drummond's success as a poet has been to portray the frank and open struggle of the individual striving to define himself. Since his poetic persona masterfully externalizes this confessional mode, there is a bond formed between poet and reader. The reader is drawn to Drummond's poetic Everyman whose intelligence and frailty commands his attention and affection.

Notes

1. C. G. Jung, Die Psychologie der Übertragung, Zurich, Rasher, 1946, p. 53.

2. J. Amado, Farda Fardão Camisola de Dormir, Nem Martins, Europa-América, 1980, p. 273.

3. C. Drummond de Andrade, Obra completa, Rio de Janeiro, Aguilar Editôra, 1964, p. 84. All subsequent verse quotations will be from this edition and page numbers will be entered in the text.

4. C. Hulet, Brazilian Literature, Washington, Georgetown Presse, 1975, p. 140.

5. The term “confessional” in modern poetry has lost much of its religious connotation and has grown to mean a poetics of personal declaration. See Robert Pinsky, The Situation of Poetry, Princeton, The Princeton Press, 1976. Of particular interest in Chapter V, “The Discursive Aspect of Poetry”.

6. The term “agape” is used in the manner of César Vallejo, whose poem by that title has, while retaining the traces of the original religious meaning, transcended this meaning to connote a more universal love of mankind.

7. D. de Andrade, op. cit., p. 140.