Do you know this guy?

Do you know this guy in the picture? If you are not Brazilian and not a big fan of Bossa Nova, you will probably say “no”. But the thing is, this is a mistake. You think you do not know him but in reality you do. This is Vinicius de Moraes – better known in Brazil as our “little poet”, as we say in Portuguese. He wrote the most translated song in the whole entire world, GIRL FROM IPANEMA. Now that you have seen his picture and are trying to remember the song, you are also thinking “so, what?”

Going direct to the point – I was reading a ridiculous Brazilian article about his masterpiece poem and it asks - was he drinking when he wrote his masterpiece “Sonnet of Loyalty”? They were trying to explain why he wrote that, in which circumstance, and why this is so good but perhaps looks so wrong.

First of all, I hate it when people try to understand what a poet was thinking about when he / she writes something. This is so stupid. During my junior years, this used to drive me crazy. Why do you think ANYONE could know what the poet was thinking?  The poem is a universal little treasure which consoles your soul. That’s all. You read it just because. There is no need for understanding the poet. But, going back to the magazine article, they were saying that at the end of the poem: “Que não seja imortal posto que é chama, mas que seja infinito enquanto dure”  - Something like: Let not be immortal since it is called, but it is infinite while it lasts.

Vinícius made an incredible mistake using Portuguese grammar. It was one of the most idiotic things I have ever read in my life. And even worse, they still do not understand the poem. Vinícius did not mean to say “posto” as a conjugation of concession; it was used as the subject of the sentence: so in this case, “posto” is the “gas station or a place” (in Portuguese – posto de gasolina / posto / lugar que serve como marcador de algo ou de apoio) which keeps the love burning.  That, or I do not know ANYTHING about poems, or those ludicrous people need to read more with their heart instead of with their senseless grammar rules.

Bando de tabacudos!