Ο Φύλακας του πρόβατου ΙΙ

Η ματιά μου είναι καθαρή σαν ενός ηλιοτρόπιου.

Είναι συνήθεια μου να περπατάω τους δρόμους

Κοιτάζοντας δεξιά και αριστερά

Και μερικές φορές κοιτάζοντας πίσω μου,

Και ότι βλέπω κάθε στιγμή

Είναι ότι δεν είδα πριν,

Και είμαι πολύ καλός στο να παρατηρώ πράγματα.

Είμαι ικανός να νιώθω τον ίδιο θαυμασμό

Που θα ένιωθε ένα νεογέννητο παιδί

Αν παρατηρούσε ότι είχε πραγματικά και αληθινά γεννηθεί.

Νιώθω κάθε στιγμή ότι έχω μόλις γεννηθεί

Σ' έναν εντελώς καινούργιο κόσμο...

Πιστεύω στον κόσμο όπως σε μία μαργαρίτα,

Επειδή τον βλέπω. Αλλά δεν τον σκέφτομαι,

Επειδή το να σκέφτεσαι είναι το να μην κατανοείς.

Ο κόσμος δεν φτιάχτηκε για εμάς για να τον σκεφτόμαστε

(Το να σκέφτεσαι είναι να έχεις μάτια που δεν βλέπουν καλά)

Αλλά να τον βλέπεις και να είσαι σε συμφωνία.

Δεν έχω καμία φιλοσοφία, έχω αισθήσεις...

Αν μιλώ για τη Φύση δεν είναι επειδή γνωρίζω τι είναι

Αλλά επειδή την αγαπώ, και γι' αυτόν ακριβώς το λόγο

Επειδή αυτοί που αγαπούν δεν γνωρίζουν τι αγαπούν

Ή γιατί αγαπούν, ή τι είναι η αγάπη.

Η αγάπη είναι αιώνια αθωότητα,

Και η μόνη αθωότητα είναι να μην σκέφτεσαι...

Μετάφραση: Ιπτ. Ολλανδός

O Guardador de Rebanhos II O meu olhar é nítido como um girassol. Tenho o costume de andar pelas estradas Olhando para a direita e para a esquerda, E de vez em quando olhando para trás… E o que vejo a cada momento É aquilo que nunca antes eu tinha visto, E eu sei dar por isso muito bem… Sei ter o pasmo comigo Que tem uma criança se, ao nascer, Reparasse que nascera deveras… Sinto-me nascido a cada momento Para a eterna novidade do mundo… Creio no mundo como num malmequer, Porque o vejo. Mas não penso nele Porque pensar é não compreender… O mundo não se fez para pensarmos nele (Pensar é estar doente dos olhos) Mas para olharmos para ele e estarmos de acordo. Eu não tenho filosofia: tenho sentidos… Se falo na Natureza não é porque saiba o que ela é, Mas porque a amo, e amo-a por isso, Porque quem ama nunca sabe o que ama Nem sabe porque ama, nem o que é amar… Amar é a eterna inocência, E a única inocência é não pensar…

The Keeper of Sheep II My gaze is clear like a sunflower. It is my custom to walk the roads Looking right and left And sometimes looking behind me, And what I see at each moment Is what I never saw before, And I’m very good at noticing things. I’m capable of feeling the same wonder A newborn child would feel If he noticed that he’d really and truly been born. I feel at each moment that I’ve just been born Into a completely new world… I believe in the world as in a daisy, Because I see it. But I don’t think about it, Because to think is to not understand. The world wasn’t made for us to think about it (To think is to have eyes that aren’t well) But to look at it and to be in agreement. I have no philosophy, I have senses… If I speak of Nature it’s not because I know what it is But because I love it, and for that very reason, Because those who love never know what they love Or why they love, or what love is. To love is eternal innocence, And the only innocence is not to think…

© 1914, Alberto Caeiro (Fernando Pessoa) From: Poesia Publisher: Assírio & Alvim, Lisbon, 2001 ISBN: 972-37-0654-7

© Translation: 2006, Richard Zenith From: A Little Larger Than the Entire Universe: Selected Poems Publisher: Penguin, New York, 2006 ISBN: 0-14-303955-5