Red Letter Poem #30 Lloyd Schwartz

 My Dear Readers,

 

During the first three years of the Red Letters, I think I’ve only skipped 2 weeks due to travel or illness – and this week is another time away.  But rather than leave you Letter-less, I decided to share an older piece that many newer readers will have missed (and old readers will likely savor a second time.)  Instead of ‘Throwback Thursday,’ consider this our first Flashback Friday – and enjoy Lloyd Schwartz’ wonderful translation of Carlos Drummond de Andrade’s signature piece “Canção Amiga” – a valuable counterpoint to the fiery rhetoric in the weekly news cycle.

 

See you with a new poem next Friday!

 

 

 

 

 

Red Letter Poem #30

 

 

 

Lloyd Schwartz navigates his roles as poet, scholar, and critic with such ease, an observer can easily believe a single impulse, a unified language informs them all.  His recently-published Who’s on First? New and Selected Poems (University of Chicago Press) is his sixth collection.  Lloyd is the Frederick S.Troy Professor of English Emeritus at UMass Boston; and his voice is familiar to many as the longtime classical music critic for NPR’s Fresh Air.  I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that he is also the Poet Laureate for neighboring Somerville, MA. 

A noted scholar and editor of the work of Elizabeth Bishop, Lloyd was invited to Brazil to offer some lectures celebrating the first Portuguese edition of her poetry.  When the doorman of the hotel at which he was staying learned the reason for his trip, he told Lloyd: “We love poetry in Brazil – we even have poetry on our money!”  Pulling out a 50 Cruzados note — as common as a dollar bill – he showed the visitor the lovely engraving of Brazil’s national poet, Carlos Drummond de Andrade working thoughtfully at his desk.  And beside it, in brown ink, was the text of “Canção Amiga”, one of his most beloved poems.  How can American poets feel anything but awe and admiration for a country where its poets are so highly regarded?  Lloyd, just learning Portuguese, began working on a translation of the piece that very evening.

Born in Itabira, a mining village in Minas Gerais in southeastern Brazil, de Andrade’s parents were farmers of Portuguese ancestry.  Trained to be a pharmacist, he ended up working in government service, eventually becoming the Director of History for the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Service.  Despite (or perhaps because of) the large family into which he was born, de Andrade developed an inwardness and a profound quiet which permeated his poems, balanced with wit, elegance, and a Whitman-like sense of the vibrant spirit of his people.  “Friendly Song” seems a perfect antidote to the troubled times we find ourselves in – and, as in Lloyd’s graceful translation, what could we wish for right now more necessary than a song that rouses men and women from their discordant lives while lulling the children to their rest?

 

Friendly Song / Canção Amiga

 

    I’m working on a song

  in which my own mother sees her image,

       everyone’s mother sees her image,

  and it speaks, it speaks just like two eyes.

 

         I’m traveling along a roadway

     that winds through many countries.

    My old friends—if they don’t see me,

      I see them, I see and salute them.

 

            I am giving away a secret

     like someone who loves, or smiles.

              In the most natural way

        two caresses reach each other.

 

          My whole life, all of our lives

            make up a single diamond.

       I’ve learned a few new phrases—

           and to make others better.

 

              I’m working on a song

                that wakes men up

             and lets children sleep.

 

 

                                    ­­­–– Carlos Drummond de Andrade

                                         (Translated by Lloyd Schwartz)

 

The Red Letters 3.0

 

* If you would like to receive these poems every Friday in your own in-box – or would like to write in with comments or submissions – send correspondence to:

steven.arlingtonlaureate@gmail.com

 

 

* To learn more about the origins of the Red Letter Project, check out an essay I wrote for Arrowsmith Magazine:

https://www.arrowsmithpress.com/community-of-voices

 

and the Boston Area Small Press and Poetry Scene

http://dougholder.blogspot.com

 

* For updates and announcements about Red Letter projects and poetry readings, please follow me on Twitter          

@StevenRatiner