Natureza e Elementos

húmido canto da boca
húmido olhar de soslaio
fresco de verde molhado
gotas de verde luar
riso no canto da boca
tão descarado no olhar
da cor bonita de Maio
húmido olhar de soslaio
sol que amormece na pele
gato a dormir na janela
o meu amor enroscado
em linho, meiguice e mel
sonhos no rubro dos lábios
fresco de verde molhado
da côr intensa de Maio
húmido olhar de soslaio

faz-me comichão na alma
o azul do olhar roçando
o riso que põe bricando
no canto da minha boca
riso de luar molhado
seus olhos do azul de Maio
húmido canto da boca
húmido olhar de soslaio

A noite vem às vezes tão perdida
E quase nada parece bater certo
Há qualquer coisa em nós inquieta e ferida
E tudo o que era fundo fica perto

Nem sempre o chão da alma é seguro
Nem sempre o tempo cura qualquer dor
E o sabor a fim do mar que vem do escuro
E tantas vezes o que resta do calor

Se eu fosse a tua pele
Se tu fosses o meu caminho
Se nenhum de nós se sentisse nunca sozinho

Trocamos as palavras mais escondidas
Que só a noite arranca sem doer
Seremos cúmplices o resto da vida
Ou talvez só até amanhecer

Fica tão fácil entregar a alma
A quem nos traga um sopro do deserto
O olhar onde a distância nunca acalma
Esperando o que vier de peito aberto

Se eu fosse a tua pele
Se tu fosses o meu caminho
Se nenhum de nós se sentisse nunca sozinho

Haverá luz
sugada no escuro?
Será calor
O murmúrio do frio?
Terá amor
O avesso da vida?
Haverá sonhos
no fundo da dor?
Serão gritos
os cais do silêncio?
Será coragem
a tremura do medo?
Haverá chuva
que lave este sangue
e deixe que a terra acalme
devagar

Esquece o medo
sai do escuro
abre comportas
deixa gritar
vai mais fundo
persegue o mar
persegue o mar

Será só
a vertigem do abismo?
Será mordaça
a leveza do pó?
Haverá negro
sugado na luz?
Haverá longe
por dentro de nós?

Ando sobre
uma aresta de gelo
na vertigem
de um trapézio de fogo
mas canta-me um pouco
na tempestade
e deixa que a terra acalme
devagar
Esquece o medo
sai do escuro
abre comportas
deixa gritar
vai mais fundo
persegue o mar
persegue o mar

Quisera roubar-te essas palavras e morrer
Trazer-te assim até ao fim do que eu puder
E começar um dia mais eternamente
Por te rever, só
Pudesse eu guardar-te nos sentidos e na voz
E descobrir o que será de nós
E demorar um dia mais eternamente
Por te rever, só
Quisera a ternura, calmaria azul do mar
O riso o amor o gosto a sal o sol do olhar
E um lugar pra me espraiar eternamente
Por te rever, só
Pudesse eu ser tempo a respirar no teu abraço
Adormecer e abandonar-me de cansaço
Quisera assim perder-me em mim eternamente
Por te rever, só

Esperei-te no fim de um dia cansado
À mesa do café de sempre
O fumo, o calor e o mesmo quadro
Na parede já azul poente
Alguém me sorri do balcão corrido
Alguém que me faz sentir
Que há lugares que são pequenos abrigos
Para onde podemos sempre fugir

Da tarde tão fria há gente que chega
E toma um café apressado
E há os que entram com o olhar perdido
À procura do futuro no avesso do passado

O tempo endurece qualquer armadura
E às vezes custa arrancar
Muralhas erguidas à volta do peito
Que não deixam partir nem deixam chegar

O escuro lá fora incendeia as estrelas
As janelas, os olhares, as ruas
Cá dentro o calor conforta os sentidos
Num pequeno reflexo da lua

Enquanto espero percorro os sinais
Do que fomos que ainda resiste
As marcas deixadas na alma e na pele
Do que foi feliz e do que foi triste

Sabe bem voltar-te a ver
Sabe bem quando estás ao meu lado
Quando o tempo me esvazia
Sabe bem o teu braço fechado

E tudo o que me dás quando és
Guarida junto à tempestade
Os rumos para caminhar
No lado quente da saudade

Dancei no fio
de uma espada
num poço aberto
em sol vermelho
há tanto tempo
não sei de ti
toquei na chama
mas era um espelho

Soltei a dor
como um segredo
que se guardou
e não se deu
lambi a ferida
de te esperar
mas este sangue
sabia a mar

Há uma ilha
dentro do deserto
há um caminho
numa vaga
há espaço para correr
sob o sol
há um barco vazio
que me arrasta

Andei num fio
de navalha
fui acrobata
e enlouqueci
abri uma fenda
e foi-se o mar
mas este mar
não chega a ti

Há uma ilha
dentro do deserto
há um caminho
numa vaga
há espaço para correr
sob o sol
há um barco vazio
que me arrasta

És uma ilha
dentro do deserto
és um caminho
numa vaga
És espaço pra correr
sob o sol
és um barco vazio
que me arrasta

és um barco vazio
que me arrasta

Vais pela rua
E finges que navegas
Desancorado até à alma
Percorres os mares do mundo
Hoje és um rei
E finges que te entregas
Ao vento e à tempestade
Como se fosses um vagabundo

A aventura, sente
A maresia e a madrugada
Corre, deixa-te levar
Pelo vento quente
Que se cola ao teu corpo
E te embala sempre
Até quereres voltar

A fantasia
Tem brilhos como as estrelas
E morna e doce e apetece
Soltá-la a voar no mundo

Hoje és um rei
Na tua caravela
A navegar
Num sopro de magia

Deixei as cartas na mesa
alguém as há-de jogar
soltei a alma no vento
entre os claros do luar
vou cavalgar mais que o tempo
e antes do tempo chegar
à beira do sentimento

Correr os rumos do mundo
sem saber onde se vai
contar as estrelas no céu
respirar os vendavais
vou cavalgar mais que o vento
pra depois me demorar
à beira do sentimento

Vou dançar e escapar
numa fresta rasgada pela luz
vou rodar
pressentir
e fugir como o ar
vou dançar e escapar
numa fresta rasgada pela luz
vou rodar
pressentir
e fugir como o ar

Ser dono do infinito
que anda nos brilhos da noite
calor e fulgor do corpo
que a lua rouba o alento
vou cavalgar mais que o vento
pra depois me demorar
à beira do sentimento

Vou dançar e escapar
numa fresta rasgada pela luz
vou rodar
pressentir
e fugir como o ar
vou dançar e escapar
numa fresta rasgada pela luz
vou rodar
pressentir
e fugir como o ar

Deixei as cartas na mesa
alguém as há-de jogar
soltei a alma no vento
entre os claros do luar
vou cavalgar mais que o tempo
e antes do tempo chegar
à beira do sentimento

Correr os rumos do mundo
sem saber onde se vai
contar as estrelas no céu
respirar os vendavais
vou cavalgar mais que o vento
pra depois me demorar
à beira do sentimento

Vou dançar e escapar
numa fresta rasgada pela luz
vou rodar
pressentir
e fugir como o ar
vou dançar e escapar
numa fresta rasgada pela luz
vou rodar
pressentir
e fugir como o ar

Ser dono do infinito
que anda nos brilhos da noite
calor e fulgor do corpo
que a lua rouba o alento
vou cavalgar mais que o vento
pra depois me demorar
à beira do sentimento

Vou dançar e escapar
numa fresta rasgada pela luz
vou rodar
pressentir
e fugir como o ar
vou dançar e escapar
numa fresta rasgada pela luz
vou rodar
pressentir
e fugir como o ar

vi um menino com um piano
no céu da minha cabeça
veio de tão longe só para me pedir
que nunca o esqueça
vinha a tocar o seu piano
como só nos sonhos pode ser
por entre as nuvens e as estrelas
apareceu quando me viu adormecer

ficou sentado perto de mim
onde mora a fantasia
quis-lhe tocar mas não se pode ter
a noite a iluminar o dia
soprou devagarinho uma estrela
que se acendeu na sua mão
disse-me: podes sempre vê-la
se souberes soprá-la no teu coração

vi um menino com um piano
a despedir-se de mim
com uma nuvem fez o mar e partiu
(nos sonhos pode ser assim)
disse-me: está a nascer o dia
vou pra onde a noite se esconder
volto com a primeira estrela
para tu nunca teres medo ao escurecer

I

Tenho um seio que delira
Como as tuas harmonias!
Que treme quando suspira,
Que geme como gemias!

II

Tenho músicas ardentes,
Ais do meu amor insano,
Que palpitam mais dormentes
Do que os sons do teu piano!

III

Tenho cordas argentinas
Que a noite faz acordar,
Como as nuvens peregrinas
Das gaivotas do alto mar!

IV
Como a teus dedos lindinhos
O teu piano gemeu,
Vibra-me o seio aos dedinhos
Dos anjos loiros do céu!

V

Vibra à noite do mistério,
Se o banha o frouxo luar,
Se passa teu rosto aéreo
No vaporoso sonhar!

VI

Como tremem teus dedinhos
O saudoso piano teu,
Vibram-me n'alma os anjinhos,
Os anjos loiros do céu!


Publicado no livro Poesias de Manuel Antônio Álvares de Azevedo (1853). Poema integrante da série Primeira Parte.

In: GRANDES poetas românticos do Brasil. Pref. e notas biogr. Antônio Soares Amora. Introd. Frederico José da Silva Ramos. São Paulo: LEP, 1959. v.

Em seu trono entre o brilho das esferas,
Com seu manto de noite e solidão,
Tem aos pés o mar novo e as mortas eras —
O único imperador que tem, deveras,
O globo mundo em sua mão.

A lua dança na mata
Até despontar o dia
Andam ninfas na cascata
E os deuses em romaria
E os bravos guerreiro mouros
Cravam lanças ao luar
Pra afugentar maus agouros
Como a fonte a transbordar
Rio aberto, quase mar
Acaba todo o sossego
Inundada a pradaria
Se os deuses contam segredos
E água vem que não devi
E os bravos guerreiros
Cravam lanças ao luar
Pra afugentar maus agouros
Como a fonte a transbordar
Rio aberto, quase mar
E estava a princesa moura
A beber água na fonte
Onde a vida é uma espora
Cravada no horizonte
Todo o dia a toda a hora
Sempre vem o trovador
Cantar à princesa moura
E a toda a moirama em flor
Ai toda a moura é uma flor
Cantaria à luz do fogo
Se me fosse perdoado
Pelos deuses todo o sonho
Toda a falta de cuidado
Mas nem sempre acorda a chama
Onde a noite é demorada
Enquanto os deuses recolhem
Água em fonte transbordada
Luz em noite enluarada
E estava a princesa moura
A beber água na fonte
Onde a vida é uma espora
Cravada no horizonte
Todo o dia a toda a hora
Sempre vem o trovador
Cantar à princesa moura
E a toda a moirama em flor
Ai toda a moura é uma flor
Toco na lira dos deuses
Pela margem da ribeira
É esse o riso dos deuses
E das caraças da feira
Dias de amor nunca esquecem
Tirando algum que esqueceu
Quando os deuses enlouquecem
E arrancam estrelas do céu
E deixam noites de breu
E estava a princesa moura
A beber água na fonte
Onde a vida é uma espora
Cravada no horizonte
Todo o dia a toda a hora
Sempre vem o trovador
Cantar à princesa moura
E a toda a moirama em flor
Ai toda a moura é uma flor

Thy soul shall find itself alone
'Mid dark thoughts of the grey tomb-stone;
Not one, of all the crowd, to pry
Into thine hour of secrecy.

Be silent in that solitude,
Which is not loneliness- for then
The spirits of the dead, who stood
In life before thee, are again
In death around thee, and their will
Shall overshadow thee; be still.

The night, though clear, shall frown,
And the stars shall not look down
From their high thrones in the Heaven
With light like hope to mortals given,
But their red orbs, without beam,
To thy weariness shall seem
As a burning and a fever
Which would cling to thee for ever.

Now are thoughts thou shalt not banish,
Now are visions ne'er to vanish;
From thy spirit shall they pass
No more, like dew-drop from the grass.

The breeze, the breath of God, is still,
And the mist upon the hill
Shadowy, shadowy, yet unbroken,
Is a symbol and a token.
How it hangs upon the trees,
A mystery of mysteries!


1827

Thou wast all that to me, love,
For which my soul did pine-
A green isle in the sea, love,
A fountain and a shrine,
All wreathed with fairy fruits and flowers,
And all the flowers were mine.

Ah, dream too bright to last!
Ah, starry Hope! that didst arise
But to be overcast!
A voice from out the Future cries,
"Onward!"- but o'er the Past
(Dim gulf!) my spirit hovering lies
Mute, motionless, aghast!

For, alas! alas! with me
The light of life is o'er!
"No more-- no more-- no more,"
(Such language holds the solemn sea
To the sands upon the shore)
Shall bloom the thunder-blasted tree
Or the stricken eagle soar!

And all my hours are trances,
And all my nightly dreams
Are where thy dark eye glances,
And where thy footstep gleams-
In what ethereal dances,
By what Italian streams.

Alas! for that accursed time
They bore thee o'er the billow,
From Love to titled age and crime,
And an unholy pillow!--
From me, and from our misty clime,
Where weeps the silver willow!


1834

Thou wast all that to me, love,
For which my soul did pine-
A green isle in the sea, love,
A fountain and a shrine,
All wreathed with fairy fruits and flowers,
And all the flowers were mine.

Ah, dream too bright to last!
Ah, starry Hope! that didst arise
But to be overcast!
A voice from out the Future cries,
"Onward!"- but o'er the Past
(Dim gulf!) my spirit hovering lies
Mute, motionless, aghast!

For, alas! alas! with me
The light of life is o'er!
"No more-- no more-- no more,"
(Such language holds the solemn sea
To the sands upon the shore)
Shall bloom the thunder-blasted tree
Or the stricken eagle soar!

And all my hours are trances,
And all my nightly dreams
Are where thy dark eye glances,
And where thy footstep gleams-
In what ethereal dances,
By what Italian streams.

Alas! for that accursed time
They bore thee o'er the billow,
From Love to titled age and crime,
And an unholy pillow!--
From me, and from our misty clime,
Where weeps the silver willow!


1834

Thou wast all that to me, love,
For which my soul did pine-
A green isle in the sea, love,
A fountain and a shrine,
All wreathed with fairy fruits and flowers,
And all the flowers were mine.

Ah, dream too bright to last!
Ah, starry Hope! that didst arise
But to be overcast!
A voice from out the Future cries,
"Onward!"- but o'er the Past
(Dim gulf!) my spirit hovering lies
Mute, motionless, aghast!

For, alas! alas! with me
The light of life is o'er!
"No more-- no more-- no more,"
(Such language holds the solemn sea
To the sands upon the shore)
Shall bloom the thunder-blasted tree
Or the stricken eagle soar!

And all my hours are trances,
And all my nightly dreams
Are where thy dark eye glances,
And where thy footstep gleams-
In what ethereal dances,
By what Italian streams.

Alas! for that accursed time
They bore thee o'er the billow,
From Love to titled age and crime,
And an unholy pillow!--
From me, and from our misty clime,
Where weeps the silver willow!


1834

I saw thee once— once only — years ago:
I must not say how many — but not many.
It was a July midnight; and from out
A full-orbed moon, that, like thine own soul, soaring,
Sought a precipitate pathway up through heaven,
There fell a silvery-silken veil of light,
With quietude, and sultriness, and slumber,
Upon the upturned faces of a thousand
Roses that grew in an enchanted garden,
Where no wind dared to stir, unless on tiptoe —
Fell on the upturn'd faces of these roses
That gave out, in return for the love-light,
Their odorous souls in an ecstatic death —
Fell on the upturn'd faces of these roses
That smiled and died in this parterre, enchanted
By thee, and by the poetry of thy presence.

Clad all in white, upon a violet bank
I saw thee half reclining; while the moon
Fell on the upturn'd faces of the roses,
And on thine own, upturn'd— alas, in sorrow!

Was it not Fate, that, on this July midnight—
Was it not Fate, (whose name is also Sorrow,)
That bade me pause before that garden-gate,
To breathe the incense of those slumbering roses?
No footstep stirred: the hated world an slept,
Save only thee and me. (Oh, Heaven!— oh, God!
How my heart beats in coupling those two words!)
Save only thee and me. I paused— I looked—
And in an instant all things disappeared.
(Ah, bear in mind this garden was enchanted!)

The pearly lustre of the moon went out:
The mossy banks and the meandering paths,
The happy flowers and the repining trees,
Were seen no more: the very roses' odors
Died in the arms of the adoring airs.
All— all expired save thee— save less than thou:
Save only the divine light in thine eyes—
Save but the soul in thine uplifted eyes.
I saw but them— they were the world to me!
I saw but them— saw only them for hours,
Saw only them until the moon went down.
What wild heart-histories seemed to he enwritten

Upon those crystalline, celestial spheres!
How dark a woe, yet how sublime a hope!
How silently serene a sea of pride!
How daring an ambition; yet how deep—
How fathomless a capacity for love!

But now, at length, dear Dian sank from sight,
Into a western couch of thunder-cloud;
And thou, a ghost, amid the entombing trees
Didst glide away. Only thine eyes remained;
They would not go— they never yet have gone;
Lighting my lonely pathway home that night,
They have not left me (as my hopes have) since;
They follow me— they lead me through the years.
They are my ministers — yet I their slave.
Their office is to illumine and enkindle —
My duty, to be saved by their bright light,
And purified in their electric fire,
And sanctified in their elysian fire.
They fill my soul with Beauty (which is Hope),
And are far up in Heaven — the stars I kneel to
In the sad, silent watches of my night;
While even in the meridian glare of day
I see them still — two sweetly scintillant
Venuses, unextinguished by the sun!


1850

I saw thee once— once only — years ago:
I must not say how many — but not many.
It was a July midnight; and from out
A full-orbed moon, that, like thine own soul, soaring,
Sought a precipitate pathway up through heaven,
There fell a silvery-silken veil of light,
With quietude, and sultriness, and slumber,
Upon the upturned faces of a thousand
Roses that grew in an enchanted garden,
Where no wind dared to stir, unless on tiptoe —
Fell on the upturn'd faces of these roses
That gave out, in return for the love-light,
Their odorous souls in an ecstatic death —
Fell on the upturn'd faces of these roses
That smiled and died in this parterre, enchanted
By thee, and by the poetry of thy presence.

Clad all in white, upon a violet bank
I saw thee half reclining; while the moon
Fell on the upturn'd faces of the roses,
And on thine own, upturn'd— alas, in sorrow!

Was it not Fate, that, on this July midnight—
Was it not Fate, (whose name is also Sorrow,)
That bade me pause before that garden-gate,
To breathe the incense of those slumbering roses?
No footstep stirred: the hated world an slept,
Save only thee and me. (Oh, Heaven!— oh, God!
How my heart beats in coupling those two words!)
Save only thee and me. I paused— I looked—
And in an instant all things disappeared.
(Ah, bear in mind this garden was enchanted!)

The pearly lustre of the moon went out:
The mossy banks and the meandering paths,
The happy flowers and the repining trees,
Were seen no more: the very roses' odors
Died in the arms of the adoring airs.
All— all expired save thee— save less than thou:
Save only the divine light in thine eyes—
Save but the soul in thine uplifted eyes.
I saw but them— they were the world to me!
I saw but them— saw only them for hours,
Saw only them until the moon went down.
What wild heart-histories seemed to he enwritten

Upon those crystalline, celestial spheres!
How dark a woe, yet how sublime a hope!
How silently serene a sea of pride!
How daring an ambition; yet how deep—
How fathomless a capacity for love!

But now, at length, dear Dian sank from sight,
Into a western couch of thunder-cloud;
And thou, a ghost, amid the entombing trees
Didst glide away. Only thine eyes remained;
They would not go— they never yet have gone;
Lighting my lonely pathway home that night,
They have not left me (as my hopes have) since;
They follow me— they lead me through the years.
They are my ministers — yet I their slave.
Their office is to illumine and enkindle —
My duty, to be saved by their bright light,
And purified in their electric fire,
And sanctified in their elysian fire.
They fill my soul with Beauty (which is Hope),
And are far up in Heaven — the stars I kneel to
In the sad, silent watches of my night;
While even in the meridian glare of day
I see them still — two sweetly scintillant
Venuses, unextinguished by the sun!


1850

In youth's spring, it was my lot
To haunt of the wide earth a spot
The which I could not love the less;
So lovely was the loneliness
Of a wild lake, with black rock bound.
And the tall pines that tower'd around.
But when the night had thrown her pall
Upon that spot — as upon all,
And the wind would pass me by
In its stilly melody,
My infant spirit would awake
To the terror of the lone lake.
Yet that terror was not fright —
But a tremulous delight,
And a feeling undefin'd,
Springing from a darken'd mind.
Death was in that poison'd wave
And in its gulf a fitting grave
For him who thence could solace bring
To his dark imagining;
Whose wild'ring thought could even make
An Eden of that dim lake.


1827

In youth's spring, it was my lot
To haunt of the wide earth a spot
The which I could not love the less;
So lovely was the loneliness
Of a wild lake, with black rock bound.
And the tall pines that tower'd around.
But when the night had thrown her pall
Upon that spot — as upon all,
And the wind would pass me by
In its stilly melody,
My infant spirit would awake
To the terror of the lone lake.
Yet that terror was not fright —
But a tremulous delight,
And a feeling undefin'd,
Springing from a darken'd mind.
Death was in that poison'd wave
And in its gulf a fitting grave
For him who thence could solace bring
To his dark imagining;
Whose wild'ring thought could even make
An Eden of that dim lake.


1827

In youth's spring, it was my lot
To haunt of the wide earth a spot
The which I could not love the less;
So lovely was the loneliness
Of a wild lake, with black rock bound.
And the tall pines that tower'd around.
But when the night had thrown her pall
Upon that spot — as upon all,
And the wind would pass me by
In its stilly melody,
My infant spirit would awake
To the terror of the lone lake.
Yet that terror was not fright —
But a tremulous delight,
And a feeling undefin'd,
Springing from a darken'd mind.
Death was in that poison'd wave
And in its gulf a fitting grave
For him who thence could solace bring
To his dark imagining;
Whose wild'ring thought could even make
An Eden of that dim lake.


1827

In youth's spring, it was my lot
To haunt of the wide earth a spot
The which I could not love the less;
So lovely was the loneliness
Of a wild lake, with black rock bound.
And the tall pines that tower'd around.
But when the night had thrown her pall
Upon that spot — as upon all,
And the wind would pass me by
In its stilly melody,
My infant spirit would awake
To the terror of the lone lake.
Yet that terror was not fright —
But a tremulous delight,
And a feeling undefin'd,
Springing from a darken'd mind.
Death was in that poison'd wave
And in its gulf a fitting grave
For him who thence could solace bring
To his dark imagining;
Whose wild'ring thought could even make
An Eden of that dim lake.


1827

Helen, thy beauty is to me
Like those Nicean barks of yore,
That gently, o'er a perfum'd sea,
The weary way-worn wanderer bore
To his own native shore.

On desperate seas long wont to roam,
Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face,
Thy Naiad airs have brought me home
To the beauty of fair Greece,
And the grandeur of old Rome.

Lo ! in that little window-niche
How statue-like I see thee stand!
The folded scroll within thy hand —
A Psyche from the regions which
Are Holy land !


1831