Publicação
Meter and rhythm in the poetry of Fernando Pessoa
| Resumo: | This study argues that poetic meter and poetic rhythm played an important role in the shaping of Pessoařs and the (pre-)heteronymsř literary styles. What is more, it contends that selected literary models were adapted not only in terms of themes and diction, but also through metrics. Throughout his life Fernando Pessoa composed verse in three languages where stress, a prosodic feature with a rhythmic distribution, begins at a different level of the prosodic hierarchy (English [foot-based], Portuguese [prosodic word-based], and French [phrase-based]). This prosodic characteristic served him to regulate poetic rhythm differently according to each language. Because poetic meter is also a cultural aesthetic construct, the realization of poetic rhythm does not always necessarily match linguistic rhythm. I shall illustrate this through instances in the two long-line canonical meters Pessoa practiced most, the iambic pentameter and the decassílabo. Particularly in two of his heteronyms (Alberto Caeiro and Álvaro de Campos) there is a substantial body of free verse. I show how some of their lines, primarily Camposřs, are the result of experiments in syllabo-tonic verse (atypical for Portuguese, a language whose prosodic system is syllabic). Metrical differences between Ricardo Reisřs Odes (Livro Primeiro) and Pessoařs Mensagem are also connected to stress regulation, a prosodic feature that in Portuguese generally serves poets for variety and not regularity. Pessoařs attempts at quantitative verse in Portuguese (a language that is not quantity-sensitive like English) are briefly presented. Some metrical shortcomings and prosodic anomalies, particularly in the iambic pentameter of his Quental translations and the 35 Sonnets, are quantified and thoroughly discussed. Last but not least, I show how metrics may serve as a tool for transcribing Pessoařs poetry. Documentation from the poetřs private library concerning poetic meter and poetic rhythm, as well as unpublished autograph documents of French and English poems, scansions, and writings on metrics, inter alia, are given in appendices. |
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| Autores principais: | Ferrari, Patricio |
| Assunto: | Pessoa, Fernando, 1888-1935 - Versificação Poesia portuguesa - séc.20 - História e crítica Língua portuguesa - Versificação Teses de doutoramento - 2012 |
| Ano: | 2012 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | tese de doutoramento |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso restrito |
| Instituição associada: | Universidade de Lisboa |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | Repositório da Universidade de Lisboa |
| Resumo: | This study argues that poetic meter and poetic rhythm played an important role in the shaping of Pessoařs and the (pre-)heteronymsř literary styles. What is more, it contends that selected literary models were adapted not only in terms of themes and diction, but also through metrics. Throughout his life Fernando Pessoa composed verse in three languages where stress, a prosodic feature with a rhythmic distribution, begins at a different level of the prosodic hierarchy (English [foot-based], Portuguese [prosodic word-based], and French [phrase-based]). This prosodic characteristic served him to regulate poetic rhythm differently according to each language. Because poetic meter is also a cultural aesthetic construct, the realization of poetic rhythm does not always necessarily match linguistic rhythm. I shall illustrate this through instances in the two long-line canonical meters Pessoa practiced most, the iambic pentameter and the decassílabo. Particularly in two of his heteronyms (Alberto Caeiro and Álvaro de Campos) there is a substantial body of free verse. I show how some of their lines, primarily Camposřs, are the result of experiments in syllabo-tonic verse (atypical for Portuguese, a language whose prosodic system is syllabic). Metrical differences between Ricardo Reisřs Odes (Livro Primeiro) and Pessoařs Mensagem are also connected to stress regulation, a prosodic feature that in Portuguese generally serves poets for variety and not regularity. Pessoařs attempts at quantitative verse in Portuguese (a language that is not quantity-sensitive like English) are briefly presented. Some metrical shortcomings and prosodic anomalies, particularly in the iambic pentameter of his Quental translations and the 35 Sonnets, are quantified and thoroughly discussed. Last but not least, I show how metrics may serve as a tool for transcribing Pessoařs poetry. Documentation from the poetřs private library concerning poetic meter and poetic rhythm, as well as unpublished autograph documents of French and English poems, scansions, and writings on metrics, inter alia, are given in appendices. |
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