António Bersane Leite

Poet. He served as Clerk of the Superintendency of the Tithes (Escrivão de Superintendência das Décimas) in the parish of Bucelas, later settling in Brazil with his daughters and son-in-law at an advanced age after being widowed. His poetry, signed with the Arcadian pseudonym "Anélio", is bucolic in character and shows classical influences. He ventured into musical drama – União Venturosa – composed to be staged at the Royal Theatre of Rio de Janeiro on the birthday of the Prince Regent in 1812, with music by Fortunato Mazziotti. He maintained a close relationship with Bocage, and the two co-authored the poem "Inventário da Casa do Guarda-Mor". Elmano dedicated a sonnet to him when his wife passed away: «Tributo em ais no coração gerados» and addressed to him the epistle «Os Amores de há muito, há muito as Graças», which was published in the book Quadras Glosadas in 1804 by Simão Tadeu Ferreira. Literary tradition holds that his daughter, Maria Vicência Bersane Leite, was the last passion and inspiring muse of Bocage in his final, agonizing days. Romeu Correia, in his play that used Bocage as a catalyst, portrayed Bersane Leite with rigor. In addition to the works mentioned in the bibliography, he wrote "Idílio", published in 1793 in the Almanake das Musas, Tomo IV, p. 33, and the sonnet «Ao teu bom Povo, a Ti, um prémio justo», included in the Tributo de Gratidão que a Pátria Consagra a sua Alteza Real, o Principe Regente, Nosso Senhor, por mãos do Intendente Geral da Polícia da Corte e Reino, 1801. His poems can also be found in Tomo XXIII, pages 67 and 71, of the Livraria Clássica by António and José Feliciano de Castilho and in the periodical Romancista (1839).