Pessoa and Borges: In the Margins of Milton

VARIACIONES lBSORGJE§ The Borges Center I nOAa - 2015 Variaciones Borges Copyright © 2015 Borges Center Editor Daniel Balderston Associate Editor Alfredo Alonso Estenoz TABLE OF CONTENTS - SUMARIO Editor's Note 1 Patricio Ferrari. Pessoa and Borges: In the Margins of Mj !ton 3 Diego Gimenez y Roberto Rolandone. Borges y Pessoa, lectores de Advisers and Founding Editors Ivan Almeida and Cristina Parodi Fabrizio Boscaglia. Pessoa, Borges and Editorial Assistants Gustavo Qllintero Vera, Katelynn Pankratz Sandra Bettencourt. 0 arquivo de Babel. Os ･ｳｰ｡ｾｯ＠ livro em Fernando Pessoa e Jorge Luis Borges International Editorial Board Edna Aizenberg, Mariela J3lanco, Lisa Block de Behar, Silvia Dapia, Fernando Degiovanni, Evelyn Fishburn, Mark Frisch, Brian Gollnick, Noe litrik, Michel Lafon, Nicolas Lucero, Marina Martin, Molloy, Rafael Olea Franco, Julio Premal, Bill Richardson, Maria Julia Rossi, Beatriz Sarlo, Saul Sosnowsld, Sergio Waisman Pablo veren el Design Maria Celeste Martin Editorial Office Borges Center 1309 Cathedral of Learning University of Pittsburgh PA 152.60 USA Phone: 41,2.624.1206 Fax: 412.624.8505 Email: borges@pitt.edu Webpage: www.borges.pitt.edu 23 infinitos do Perez Lopez. Jorge Luis Borges y Fernando Pessoa: 85 Alberto Giordano. La resistencia a la ironia 99 Bairon Oswaldo velez Esca1l6n. Borges 4D 115 Jason A. Bartles. Gauchos at the Origins: Borges, Filloy 133 Robin Lefere. La autofiguracion en Borges: perspectivas de contextualizacion 153 Amy Frazier-Yoder. The Absolute Text: Flawed Creation and Flawed Semiotic in Borges's "EI Golem" Antonio Munir Hachemi Guerrero. Borges en disputa: las entrevistas de Jorge Luis Borges Leah Leone. A Chain of Endless Tigers: Borges at the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee, April 9, 1976 205 Reviews - Reseftas 225 Books Received - Libras recibidos 233 Editor's Note This issue- of Variacioncs Borges marks the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the journal in Denmark and the tenth of its move to the United States under my editorship_ As subscribers know, we published our first book, Evelyn Fishburn's Hidden Pleasures in Borges's Fiction, in March of this yeaL This issue will be sent out with the second one, the first edition of an unpublished manuscript, La sCllda, by Jorge Guillermo Borges Haslam, Borges's father, written in Geneva in 1917; that edition also includes several ofjorge Guillermo Borges's poems, collected and annotated by Sarah Roger. We are happy to announce for 2016 the publication of Cristina Parodi's encyclopedia ofH. Bustos Domecq and B. Suarez Lynch. The first five articles in this issue are a dossier on the relations between Borges and the great Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935), papers that were presented last year at an event at the Casa Fernando Pessoa. We are grateful to Patricio Ferrari for bringing them together in this dossier, and to the authors for sharing their insights with the community of scholars of Borges. Alfi'edo Alonso Estenoz, associate editor of Variaciones, and I participated in March 2015 in a wonderful event at the University of WisconsinMilwaukee at which we saw, and then were invited to comment on, a restored digitized film of a Borges lecture on that campus in 1976. Thanks to Leah Leone we are happy to share the transcription of this talk, and of the question and answer period that followed, in this issue of Variaciolles. 'Daniel CJ3alderston Pessoa and Borges: In the Margins of Milton Patricio 'Ferra rC Although an encounter between Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) and Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935) seems unlikely, the possibility is real enough. During May and June in 1924, Borges, a few months shy of his twenty-fifth birthday, visited for six weeks with his parents and sister the city of Lisbon, city that Pessoa, then thirty-six years old, had been living in ever since he returned from South Africa in September, 1905. The first to have entertained the idea of their meeting was Emir Rodriguez Monegal, who wrote of them sitting in the Brasileira do Chiado (399)2-one of the cafes in the Portuguese capital that Pessoa and other fellow writers frequented. More 1 I wisb to express my gratitude to Daniel Henri-Pageaux, my supervisor at the time, for his generosity, scbolarship and guidance. I also want to thank Susan Margaret Brown for her thorough revision and comments, as well as acknowledge the following people who have helped at different stages of tbis study: Claudia I. fischer, Helena Buescu, Maria Kodama, Laura Rosato, Cristina ['ina, George Monteiro, Onesimo T. Almeida, Jeronimo Pizarro, Daniel llalderston, Jose Barreto, Carlos Pittella- Leite and Vasco Rosa. 2 Rodriguez Monegal gives 1923 as the year in which Borges visited Lisbon (399)· Variaciolles Borges 40 » 2015 recently, Daniel Balderston pictured them conversing in an English that would have sounded somewhat antiquated to contemporary ears though entirely in keeping with the bookish English in which both of them were also at home (169).3 Very little is known about what Borges actually did during those six weeks in Lisbon, Aside from mentioning in his Autobiographical Essay, five decades that he had "many memories of Genova, Zurich, Nimes, Cor, doba, and Lisbon," he remains silent on the matter (The Aleph We do know, however, that before his voyage back to Buenos Aires on the Dutch ship Orania on June 30th, the Borges family stayed in the Hotel Francfort do Rossio (Baccaro 237; located in the same building as the Irmaos Unidos restaurant; curiously enough, this was where Borges met Antonio Ferro- - the youngest member of the Orpheu circle which in 19 15 had used this establishment as the meeting point for the literary magazine that would launch Portuguese modernism." 4 3 Ever since Rodriguez Monegal's article (399-406), other critics have fictionalIzed the encounter. See, for example, works by Teresa Hita Lopes, Vasco Gra\tl Moura, and Patrick Quillier. For the letter Borges sent to Pcssoa for the fiftieth anniversary of his death, upon the request of Jose Blanco, see Blanco (173-78). A brief comparative study between Borges and Pessoa may be found in Ferrari and Pizarro (9 1 -92). ｾ＠ In an ,interview with Carvalho de Montezuma in 1971 Borges recalled thefollowing: Meus palS lllstalaram-senum hote! queou ficava nos Restauradores ou na ｐｲ｡ｾ＠ do RosS10. Do que tcnho absoluta ceneza IS que fkava mesmo no centro de Lisboa. 0 nome do hotel nao 0 lembro mais. nesse hotel urn jovem da minha ida de. Nao sei como nos conhecemos. Sci que foi no hotel e desde 0 primeiro contacto fkamos amigos. Chamava-se Antonio Ferro. Todos os diils aparecia no hotel e todos os dias can" versavamos, De literatura, claro. De modcrnismo, de vanguardismo e de outros 'ismos' Fidmos ainda a dever a Antonio Ferro a sugestao para visitar oulros pontos de Portugal, dignos de interesse turistico. Sei que visitei com meus pais c minha irma locais como SinPraia da Nazare, Batalha, Coimbra, Luso, ｂｵｾ｡｣ｯＬ＠ da Foz .. , tra, Cascais, ａｬ｣ｯ｢｡ｾＬ＠ Nao me lembro os nomes de outras ten"as, Nao, nao sci se fomos ao Porto. Mas como recordo bern a Antonio Ferro, muito vivo, muito gentiJ, muito imaginativo! Nao posso recordar Portugal scm recordar Antonio Ferro, 0 unico cscritor portugues deste seculo xx que conheci, tratd e estimei" (l4) I I quote from the continuation of the article published 15 Ap n11 971j, In il different interview regarding the period preceding Olpheu,Armando Cones-Rodrigues said: "Naquele tempo, urn grupo de amigos reunia-se quase todas as noJtes no restaurante Irmaos Unidos, no Rossio: Fernando Pessoa, Mario dc Sa-Carneiro, Santa Rita Pintor, Jose Pacheco, Luis de MontaJvor, Alfredo Guisado, Almada Negreiros e eu. Dal nasceu a ｮ｣･ｳｾｬ､｡＠ de uma revista" ("DiaJogo" 3). Information obtained from the ｅｸｰｯｳｩｾ｡＠ Orpheu lOa Anos "Nos, os de Orpheu", organized at the Fernando Pessoa House during 2015 by Antonio Cardiello, Silvia Costa and Jeronimo Pizarro, See If we examine Pessoa at this particular juncture in time in terms of his literary production, the projects he was pursuing, and the people with whom he was corresponding, one observation in particular seems worth mentioning. It is his correspondence with the Spanish poet Adriano del Valle, with a letter dated June 1St, 1924,5 The missive itself reveals nothbut the fact of their short yet intense epistolary relationship is ing ｳｰ･ｾｩ｡ｬＬ＠ noteworthy because Borges and del Valle were then close friends," Since no proof of an encounter or even awareness of the two poets exists, [ will refrain from offering one more imaginary physical encounter and frame my investigation in terms of something they shared a common admiration for, something that may well lie at the heart of any significant linll between Pessoa and Borges-namely, their ongoing relationship with English as voracious readers and, in Pessoa's case, as a poet as welL The unequalled importance of the English language and the unrivaled impact of its literature upon both cannot be overstated, Each possessed a personal library largely comprised of non-contemporary Anglophone authors, many of whom would exert a deep influence during their formative years, John Milton (1608-1674) was one such author. Recent research in Borges's private library has revealed that his collection of books by and about Milton was larger and more diverse than the items listed in the pioneer work by Hosato and These new findings show that Borges was keenly interested not only in Milton the poet but as a prose writer as well: the man and his thought, including his political views and his disputes with contemporary authorities.? 5 The correspondence between Pessoa and del Valle extends from August 31st 1923 to November loth 1924, During this period they exchanged at least fourteen letters (ten signed by Pessoa and four by del Valle): "Si considcramos que Ad:iano pudo des,cubm el nombre de Pessoa cn 1922, wando ambos colaboran en la revIsta COlltempOral1ca, y aunque ten gam os certeza de los dias mencionados de 1923 ｣ｯｾ＠ los ､ｾｬ＠ encuentro personal, no existen indicios definitivos a la hora de mtentar callbrar cuando se acaba la amistad entre ambos poetas" (ef. Saez Delgado 111-47 [Ill]), 6 One of the signs of this friendship is the dedication of" Himno del Mari' the first poem Borges published in his lifetime, The poem appeared in Gl'ecia, a Spamsh magazine directed by del Valle (cr. TR l: 24), 7 The following are some of the books by and on Milton extant in . , private library: (1) John Milton, Aeropagitica: A Speech jorthe Liberty ojUnllccl1ced Prllltmg, London, ｾ＠ 5 o -------------------------------_ I.n ｍｩｬｴｯｮＧｳａｲ･ｾｰ｡ｧ｣＠ and Other Prose Works, for example, a copy Borges lIkely acqUlred In 1945, marginalia point to the latter. 6 Jorge Luis Ilorges, Adrogue, 1945 _ innecesarios y despiadados volumenes - 76. ought himself to be a true poem ... 121. Fig. 1. Miltoll'sA1'copagitica and Other Prose Works, 1927.llorges's personal copy. National Library of Iluenos Aires. 8 Macmillan & Co., 195 2 [no autograph markings); (2) The Prose Works oflollll Milton. COI1tal//1I1g the l:lilcbesl Means to Removc Hirelings alit of the Church. Animadversions Upon the Rcmostrants Defel1Sc Against SmcctYIl1l1UUS, Apologyfor Smcctynllluus, The Voctrinc alld Disci. plmc of DIvorce, The Judgment of Martin BuccI' Concerning Divorce, TctracllOrdol1 Co/asterioll Tractate all Education,A Declarationforthe Election ofJohn/II KillgofPoland,Fm;liliar Letters: vol;UJ, London, Henry G.llohn. 1848 [one autograph annotation in the backflyleafj; (3) Da\ ｾ､＠ Masson, ThcLifc of MIllon: Narrated ill COllllexion with the Political, Ecclesiastical, and LitC/{lI), HIStol), ｾＡｨｬｳ＠ Tillie: vol. VI, London: Macmillan & Co., 1880 [autograph inscription In front flyleaf: Jorge LUls Ilorges, 1941, Iluenos Aires"; fifteen annotations in the hand ofLeon or Acevedo de Ilorges in the back flyleaf]; (4) Logan Pearsall Smith, Milton and /-IIS Modem Cntles, London, Oxford University Press, 1941 [one autograph annotation in the back flyleaf followed byanother in the hand of Leonor Acevedo de Jlorges]; (5) Denis Saurat, Milton: Mall ami Thll1l1er, London, J. M. Dent & Sons, 1946 rtwenty-two annotations by Leonor Acevedo. de Borges in the back flyleaf; another one by Leonor Acevedo dellorges ｉｾ＠ the back lOslde cover followed by four in Maria Kodama's hand). The Jorge ｌｕｬｾ＠ Borges International Foundatl,on IS currently preparing a complete publication of tIm colleCtion. I am grateful to Mana Kodama for kindly this information. 8 In italics the two passages inscribed in own hand. The first was taken from "Of Reformation in England and the Causes Hitherto have Hindered it:" "Whether, thmk ye, would she approve still to dote upon immeasurable, innumerable, and there. fore unnecessary and unmerciful volumes, chOOSing rather to err with the specious namc"o;' the fathers" (76). The second one was taken from "An Apology for Smectymnuus. And long It was not after, when I was confirmed in this opinion, that he who would not be frustrate of his hope to write well hereafter in laudable things, ought him. self to be a true poem; that is, a composition and pattern of the best and honourable thmgs; not presuming to sing high praises of heroic men, or famous cities, unless he .. Although Pessoa was not oblivious to some of Milton's political involvements,9 his engagement with the author of Paradise Lost remained primarily within the realm of poetry-as his fragments and poems, readings and markings in books by and on Milton well demonstrate. From very early on what he seems to have admired most is Milton's technical m?stery of the sonnet and the architecture of the long poem (cf. ApreciafOes literdrias 183-84)-the "magia rhythmica" of his verse.'° Milton has long been praised for his metrical skill. In his book Milton's Prosody, which Pessoa first read in 1904 during his last year of high school, the English poet Robert Bridges states, "rhythm is always ready to follow his thought; a habit with him so essential to his style and so carefully trained, that a motive ... could hardly have been passed over without some exceptional treatment" (27). The following unpublished fragment may very well have been inspired by Pessoa's reading of the essay "Milton" by Matthew Arnold-originally delivered a year prior to the publication of Bridges's study, in 1888 (56-68)." have in him self the experience and the practice of all that which is praiseworthy" (12J 1 (cf. Rosato and Alvarez 242-43). 9 There is an unpublished document in Pessoa's archive headed "Pol[iticaj" where we read: "SaJmasio e Milton, ambos latinistas, e 0 primeiro um erudito e 0 lim dos maiores poetas do mundo, envolveram-se nllma discussao politica aroda da ･ｸ｣ｵｾ｡ｯ＠ de Carlos I de lnglaterra-Salmasio atacando·a, defendendo-a Milton" (National Library of Portugal! Archive 3, 92L-95). There exists another unpublished version in the following manuscript (National Library of Portugal I Archive 3, 92L·84') datable from 1932.1 thank lose Ilarreto for the latter information. "Rescrevamos a I1iada na forma de uma chronica medieval, e sera uma boa chronica medieval mais nada. Dispamos 0 Paraiso Perdido da magia rhythmica de Milton, e sera uma narrativa de fantasia theologica, tedienta e fruste (National Library of Portugal ! Archive 3, 114-66 to 68; cf. Pocmas completos de Alberto Caciro 274). For other fragments on Milton's versification qualities see Aprccia(oes literarias (2.013) and Ferrari, Meter and Rhythm 76-79. The Poetical Works of Johll Milton is a book Pessoa studied in Durban, as some of the marginalia suggest. Regarding his markings and marginalia connected to metrics in this book see ferrari, Meter and Rhythm appendix IV. The interlinear translations of parts of Paradise Lost were done in Lisbon. ]0 11 Arnold had advanced the following observation: "Milton, of all our English race, is by his diction and rhythm the one artist of the highest rank in the great style whom we have; this I take as requiring no discussion, this I take as certain" (63). Part of this passage is marked in the copy extant in Pessoa's private library. In this passage Arnold compared Milton and Shakespeare. We know that this reading inspired Pessoa to write other fragments. In one of them he tells us: "Milton, and not Shakespeare, is the great 7 something Borges knew all too well and, unlike Pessoa, prompted him to reflection. In his Introduccion a la literatura inglesa, written in collaboration with Maria Esther Vasquez and published in 1965, we read: "Sanson e1111chador, publicaea en 1671, es acaso la obra maestra de Milton". (OCC 825)· Years later, in "La ceguera," the last conference included m Swte naches, Borges draws a parallel between Milton's fate and Samson's: 8 Youth desires and age achieves. No great poetry can be written in youth [because] no great poetry exists except by the understanding; it is in youth that great poetry is felt, it will be acted when youth is past, & the soul past feeling it. Milton has nowhere greater poctry than in Samson Agonistes. 12 (National Library of Portugal I Archive 3, 14'-50) Fig. 2. National Library of Portugal I Archive 3, 14''-50. Detail. Although recognizing its greatness, Pessoa left few markings in the mardramatic poem that lacked "visao dramatica," gins of Samson a defect he attributed to Milton in general (Pdginas 323-25).'3 The Greek form chosen for the dramatic poem as well as the handling of it, on the other hand, were features that Pessoa found praiseworthy (Pdginas 323As for Samson, the blind hero, this was no arbitrary choice for Milton: Milton penso en el parecido de los destin os, ya que el,. como ｓ｡ｮＺＶｾＬＧ＠ habia sido el hombre fuerte finalmente vencido. Estaba Clego. Y escnbIO aquellos versos que siempre, seglin Landor, suelen punt.uarse mal, y que real mente tendrian que ser: Eyeless, in Gaza, at the null, wIth the slaves [ ... J. Es como si las desdichas fueran acumulandose sabre Sanson. (OC 3: 283) In the subsequent paragraph, Borges recalls Milton's own blindness, quoting the second line of Sonnet XIX, traditionally known as "On His Blindness": "in this dark world and wide" (DC 3: 283)· By the end of 1955 blindness had almost completely overcorr:e ｾｯｲｧ･ｳ＠ and from that point on it would increasingly become one of hiS ｨｴ･ｲ｡ｾ＠ obsessions.14 It is within this context that we find (and understand) hiS choice of Milton as an ally-a poet who in "blind sight," as Pessoa tells us in an unpublished English poem entitled "Reading Milton," had wrought . "15 poetry "in careful symbol an d sh adow-pam. . type, the model for poets, not now but always" Ｈａｰｲ･｣ｩ｡ｾＶｳ＠ litcrarias 181). See also Sebastilmismo (226-32).11 is likely though that Pessoa became familiar with Arnold's Essays ill Criticism (first and second series) much earlie, (cf. Udbe 237-70). 12 A mark of doubt was handwritten underneath the word "age." The symbol stands for "because." There is one variant in the manuscript: "will" for "shall." Shakespeare as the greater dramatist 13 The fact that Pessoa seems to have (d. Apreciar6es 91), did not stop him from expressing Milton's superiority in other ways, as the following fragments indicate: "Milton, and not Shakespeare, is the great type, the model for poets, not now but always" (Apl'cciaroes 181); "When, towards the end Christianity will have long gone to that vale of darlmess where all creeds follow all men, the great power of Milton will stand for it before eternity ... His life was given to art, as a thing from him of small price. Every verse he wrote bears the full force of his dedicated will" (cf. Apreciar6rs 184). 1n addition, one of Pes so a's prose projects for the heteronymic poet Rica,do Reis is entitled "Milton maior do que Shakespeare," the purpose of which would be twofold: to argue that writing an epic poem is more difficult than a drama and to claim Mihan's superiority as verse "constructor" (cLAprcciaroes 181-83). 14-Exce pt for the poem "Adosto y los arabes" (OP 150-53),dated from 1943, the ｳｾｶ･ｮ＠ other instances of Milton's name appearing in Borges's poetry are connected to blindness: "Del infierno y del delo," 1943 (OP 184); "EI ｯＬｾｲＢ＠ 1960 ＨｏｾＬ＠ 213); "Una .rosa y Milton," 19 63 (OP 214); "Un ciego," 1975 (OP 455); Los destmos, 1976 (TR 3· 205), "Leones," 1977 (OP 528); "A cierta isla," 1981 (OP 626). 15 "Reading Milton," dated May 4th, 1920, is a 40-line poem that opens thus:.':The ;acred silence of the sea, I The warm-left summer sunset eanh,-I NeIther ofthem IS full 9 10 Neither the focus on blindness as a leitmotif nor the referencing of autobiographical occurrences '°-both found in some of Borges's sonnets and traceable to Milton's sonnets-are featured in Pessoa's sonnets.'? Even in the sonnet "On Death," (discussed further on) where Milton's "On His Rlindness" is one of its sources (d. Monteiro 46), this will not be the case. Rather, Milton would offer the young aspiring poet invaluable insight into specific metrical elements, as I suggested in a previous study on the ode. 's But there was more. Early traces in Pessoa' s copy ofThePoetical Works OfJOhl1 Miltoll, brought from Durban, show that the reading of Milton's verse may have stirred in him the impulse for one of his first with self-fragmentation. In the years 1903-1910, prior to the creation of the heteronyms, Pessoa assigned books to some of the literary figures he continued to invent. Part of the drive behind this book-assigning program was the establishment of a lineage as well as the formation of distinctive writing-readers-that is, fictitious writers using the material they read for the creation of their new texts. What becomes more systematic with Alexander Search, the most prolific English fictitious author in Pessoa's repertoire, presents itself in embryonic form in Charles Robert Anon and other early figures (cf. Eu Sou Uma Antologia 126-56,227-48). In other words, these initial fictitious auｴｾｯｲｳ＠ had not ripened into the fullness of Alexander Search insofar as they dId not possess, as he did, the following attributes; (1) the variety either in number of titles or in topics, genres, languages; the widespread influoftbee,1 Master, whose miracle of worth I In lies past death, ere birth." There is a mark of doubt in the word "full" (line 3). above quotations are taken from lines 1112 (National Library of Portu gal I Archive 3, 49A"-7'). Milton's Sonnet "On His Blindness" appears listed in a project entitled "Anthology," datable from 19 171 19 2 3 (National LIbrary of Portugal I Archive 3,48-8). 16 A feature that seventeenth century authors sllch as Milton introduced into the sonnet (Martens 241). 17 the conference "Fernando Pessoa's English Poetry" held at the Fernando Pessoa House on luly 3rd, 2014, Richard Zenith argued that Alexander Search is the son of Shelley, particularly the Shelley of the poem "Alastor, or the Spirit of Solitude." More recently, in a conversation, Susan Margaret Brown has suggested a further connection to Shelley, his description of the companion in the 617-line poem "Julian and Maddalo" (cf.lmes 46-52 and Search's sonnet "Blind Eagle"). 18 Por a detailed analysis of the Miltonic ode in PessoalAnon's English production see Ferrari, "Genetic Criticism." ence of books assigned traceable to individual projects and writings; (3) signature as a mark of ownership. The ambiguity of this last feature is particularly significant in the case of Anon in The Poetical Worlzs ofJohn Milton (17), ｷｨ･ｾＡｏ＠ we find one of the earliest fictitious inscriptions in the margins of a book in Pessoa's private library: 11 PAR,WISE heSr. Of old 1 Euphrates to the brook that Juuta El'!ITJlt from 8FilUl ground, had general names or BallIim and Ashtnrotb,' those male, TI1Cac feminine. For spirits when tiler plea.ea C[harles] Rlobert] AlnonJ Pig. 4. The Poetical Worlls oflohl1 Milton, n.d. Detail of page 17. Fernando Pessoa House Collection (Call number 8-359) That this is 1I0t a mark of ownership, as it clearly is in the case of other books where Anon's signature appears all the flyleaf andlor title page (ct. Eu Sou Uma Antologia may point to Pessoa's awareness of an aesthetic feature in Milton-the "stimulating" and "evocative" use of proper names, as Pessoa stated later in life. '9 The initials of Anon in the margins of Paradise Lost seem to testify to this, as 1 will explain. On July 7th 1905, under the name of Charles Robert Anon, Pessoa sent a letter to The Natal Review including political sonnets that dealt with different aspects of the AnglO-Boer and the Russo-Japanese wars (ct. Poem as [ngleses 9, 3°1-04 and Helgesson 30-46). The idea of expressing political views in sonnet form had not been done before Milton, and it was only with his example that such a precedent was set. Tn the thirty-three sonnets he published in his lifetime, his comments on state policy as well as problems he personally underwent during Cromwell's Commonwealth found a place in this poetic form forthe first time (White 167). One could say that the sonnets sent to the South African review were Miltonic for Anon, both by virtue of the form adhered to (Italian sonnet: an octave followed by a 19 Around 1916, more than a decade after these marginalia, Pessoa wrote: "Iii aqui se nOlam os characteristicos fundamentaes do genio miltonico. Iii aqui se veem a majestade do stylo, 0 seu rhythmo severo e sereno, 0 usa dos nomes proprios como 0 final, absolutamente calmo, estimulo, evocativo como rhythmico, para a ｩｭ｡ｧｮｾｯＬ＠ como ede quem segue a grande ｴｲ｡､ｩｾｯ＠ dos gregos" (19'95'; Pdginns 323-25). -o 12 sestet), and the reference to current political events. Pessoa/ Anon explored the sonnet as a weapon, as a way of taking a political stance. It is likely that he used the pseudonym 20 of Charles Robert Anon (an English name) in order to protect himself within a tightly knit community at a time when criticism of British interests would not have been welcome. It is worth noting that Anon also signs non-political Miltonic sonnets. Borges was equally drawn to the sonnet form, but preferred the English sonnet (three quatrains and a final couplet) over Pessoa/ Anon's choice ofthe Italian. 2 ! Furthermore, Borges employed the form for purposes quite different from those of Pessoa. Concerning political events, for example, Borges paid heed to past occurrences, and among his sonnets we find instances of Milton's influence in the way his meditations on such events are often personalized (fictionalized) and in the manner that at least one of his narrated circumstances (blindness) is autobiographical. Many of the sonnets reflect Borges's long-standing fascination with the male attributes of courage and bravery. "A la efigie de un capitan de los ejercitos de Cromwell" can be read either in connection with Milton's Sonnet XVI, a celebration of Cromwell's military prowess, or Milton's Sonnet XVIII, where Cromwell emerges as "a man who has gone too far perhaps in shedding blood to achieve his ends" (White 169). In Borges's hands, these historical events are culled for aesthetic purposes. Notice how this occurs in "A la efigie de un capitan de los ejercitos de Cromwell." After introducing the god of war, "Marte," Borges shifts to foregone eyes and a past behind darkness: des de otraluz (desde otro siglo) miran los ojos, que miraron las batallas. r.... ······································] detras de la penumbra esta lnglaterra, y el caballo y la gloria y tu jornada. (OP 135) 13 Reference to the two political sonnets by Milton mentioned above (Sonnets XVI and XVllI) appears on the back flyleaf of Borges's personal copy of The Poetical Worlls of John Milton. The indications are in Leonor Acevedo de Borges's handwriting, who read to him towards the end of the 1950S and until her death, in 1975. The third incipit is XIX, Milton's famous sonnet "On His Blindness," which inspired Borges, both in 1972 and 1985, to compose two different eponymous English sonnets ("On His Blindness") where the lyric I is Borges himself. A close reading of the 1985 sonnet in particular shows how Milton's presence went beyond the thematic level. '" OJ bJ) I. I,.;fs'", t"l-"''';''-.I(, .....ＭｉＮｴｾＱｦﾷｬｊ＼＠ ). I} ｾｴＢ＠ il'!! ＮｪｾＬｌ＠ ＢｾＬＺｪＧｉｈｽ＠ -{.,u -,«" ti ＮｴｾｲＱ＠ _ ....dAfbNt/ "fh-'/I ＱｾＭＧｬｊ＠ ［ｾ＠ ｾ＠ ! o --0 c: '"'"o '" 20 Pessoa used this term at least as late as 1911-1913 with Frederich Wyatt (cf. National Library of Portugal/Archive 3, 133G-1O'). (For Frederick Wyatt see Ell SOli Uma Alltologia 359-70.) The literary term "heteronymismo" is a concept that he only formalized in 1928 and that distinguishes his works (obra orthol1yma) from that of the main fictional authors other than himself who came into being in about 1914 (viz., Alberto Caeiro, Ricardo Reis and Alvaro de Campos), each with his own literary and philosophical idiosyncrasies, personal traits (e.g., occupation, calligraphy and horoscope), diction and individual practice of poetic meter and poetic rhythm. Pessoa did not employ the term "heteronimia" (ef. Presel1ra 10). Pessoa makes use of the terms "heteronymismo" and "heteronymos" (without the accent) in the famous letter to Adolfo Casais Monteiro, dated 13 January 1935, in which he revealed to the critic the genesis of the heteronyms (Cartas 251-59). Note that these categories as such only appeared around 1928. For the different nuances underlying this matter, see Pizarro, "Obras ort6nimas" 73-98. p[age] p[age] [page] 21 Both of Borges's sonnets entitled "On His Blindness" were written in the English sonnet form. Pessoa's Charles Robert Anon, Alexander Search, and Frederick Wyatt favored the Italian sonnet form. All of the sonnets that make up Pessoa's 35 Sonnets were entirely written in the English sonnet form. The Portuguese poet left numerous English sonnets unattributed and unpublished. This entire corpus is currently being critically transcribed in collaboration with Carlos Pittella-Leite. These notes were first transcribed by Laura Rosato and German Alvarez (243). I thank Rosato for her generosity in providing me this image. "Los libros incluidos en este catalogo pertenecieron a la biblioteca personal de Borges (en su mayo ria) y se con- '"OJ P-. 22 435 - Cromwell, our chief of men ... 436 - Avenge 0 Lord ... 437 - A When I considered [sic] how my light is spent, Fig. 5. The Poetical Worlls Of101m Miltol1, 1958. Borges's personal copy.'" National Library of Argentina. 14 In Milton's autobiographical sonnet "On His Blindness," the turn is unusual. Generally, the octave or volta at line 9 (from octave to ends with the conclusion of one idea, leading to another idea in the sestet. a meaningful reason. Accord. When poets break this rule, there is ingly, Milton's beginning the sestet halfway through the last line of the octave in line 8 ("I fondly ask. But Patience., to prevent") with the verb "to prevent,"-which also means "to anticipate,"-heightens the impact of unexthe turning point and thus further energizes the sonnet by pected meaning. Such a feat (Le., avoidance of the strict division of sense in the poem between the octave and could only be achieved by a masterful understanding of the form and a skillful manipulation of its technical Both Borges and Pessoa were aware of such Miltonic subtlety. In fact, Borges does something similar in the second sonnet entitled "On His line 8 Blindness" included in Los conjurados. With the turn before "y que acecha en el alba. Yo querria I ver una cara alguna vez" (OP 675) the desire to "ver una cara alguna vez" (line 9) in spite of that "terca neblina" (line 2), comes as an eruption and thus infuses an unexpected force. In Charles Robert Anon's Miltonic sonnet, entitled "On Death" (death, like cf. Monteiro 46), the turn is not as unblindness, could be death in common since it occurs in line 9: "Nevertheless though sorrow rage and tear" (Cuadernos 148).73 servan en la Biblioteca Nacional, donde ellos dej6 wando termin6 su mandato como Director de esta casa. Digo en su mayoria porgue la colecci6n incluye unos pocos Iibros que, habiendo pertenecldo al fondo patrimonial de la BibHoteea Nacional, poseen marcas de lectura de Jorge Luis Borges" (Laura Rosato, personal e-mail). After 1958 we do not find manuscripts left by Borges, his imminent blindness has become a fact (Daniel Balderston, personal e-mail). See, for instance, the manuscript of "Spinoza," a sonnet from November 1963 and transcribed by Leonor Acevedo de Borges (Roux and Milleret 342.'43). for this. Anon's Miltonic sonnets did not employ enjambment, one favorite devices learned from the Italian poet Giovanni Della Casa (1503-1556), who had distinguished himself by this from Petrarch, Milton's model up to then (eL Feldman and Robinson 7). Most lines in "On Death" are end-stopped lines. On the other hand, outside the final couplet made up of end-stop lines, both "On His Blindness" favor enjambment between the lines. l"yr,lon,tlrln FINAL NOTE In the preface to the book EZ hacedor, that includes the sonnet about Cromwell mentioned Borges recalls Milton's hypallage-a literary device best explained as a transferred or an unexpected rearrangement of two segments in a sentence or verse, as in: Terrestrial Heaven, danced round by other heavens That shine, yet bear their bright officious lamps [ ... J (Tile Poetical Worlls ofJo/1Il Milton 206) 15 Here the Argentine poet has in mind lines 103-104 from Book IX of Paradise Lost, which act as a segue way to his quotation in Book Vl (I. 268) of Vergil's Aeneid: "Ibant obscuri sola sub nocte per umbram" (OP 115).21 These references are the threshold to El hacedor, a book written, or rather, dictated in partial darlmess. When Borges returns in 1960 to the publication of poetry more than three decades after Cuademo Sail Martin, the parallels he draws with Milton are unequivocal. It should be abundantly clear by now that Milton has been absorbed in two distinctly different manners. While in various sonnets draws a parallel between Milton's fate and his own in terms of the blind poet, of ways. And Pessoa's early reading of Milton inspired him in a Pessoa's private library attests to this. That Milton's role as a mentor provided him with useful instruction on technical matters of poetry is fairly evident from instances of Pes so a's prose commentary on Milton as well as from the example of Charles Robert Anon, author of sonnets crafted in the Miltonic form and dealing with contemporary political events.'S Furthermore, the influence of the English bard on Pessoa's system of fictitious authors extends beyond mere use of the sonnet for political commentary. In other words, Anon was not the only fictitious figure whose initials were inscribed in Pessoa's personal copy of The Poetical Works ofJohn Milton. 2.4 In Bioy Casares's diary for July 5th, 1958, we find the Borges que anoche su madre Ie el sexto libro de Ia Eneida" mentioning of Virgil's famous hypallage on April 14th 1960 (621). anecdote: "Cuenla Bioy records their 2.5 Pessoa composed other political English sonnets in the Italian form around 1906" 1907, leaving them unattributed and unpublished. These sonnets were discussed by Poetry" held at the Carlos Pittella-Leite at the conference "Fernando Pessoa's Casa Fernando Pessoa on July 3rd, 2.014. Cf. note 2.1. '- o On the back inside cover, among the names of "Milton" and "F Pessoa,"26 we read that of "Charles Search," another fictitious author Pessoa created around .' 'T-" .•.•' ＭＧＢﾷｾｴＮ｟＠ ﾧＢＧＡｬｩｆＬｾｉｔＷｃＭ＠ with Pessoa's process of self-othering but is also further explored on the same flyleaf. On the divided by a horizontal line but part of the same composition, iNe read: "Who am I? I am thyself I Thyself indeed, oh happy man, I Didst ever know that I am e'en thy self?" "-j!> Patricio 'Fen'ari Universidade de Lisboa I Brown University 17 C/wr[les] Search Milton Miltol!. Milton F Pessoa ｃｨ｡ｲｬ･ｾ＠ Fl'cssoa Charles Search Milton Fig. 6. The Poetical Warlls ofJo/1Il Milton, n.d. Detail of back ｩｮｾ､･＠ Fernando Pessoa House Collectioll. Milton Search Milto17 cover. Most interesting are the crossed-out unpublished verses written trials. The poem opens thus: "As storm on below these onomastic calm at length he & broke I the horrid silence with more horrid voice -." Written in blank verse, like Milton's Paradise Lost, these iambic peI1taJl1e1ters echo the initial passage about Satan: "To whom th' Arch-Enemy, I And thence in Heav'n cail'd Satan, with bold words I Brealdng tbe horrid silence thus began" (Book I, II. 81-83, Paradise Lost). What is most telling here is neither the Miltonic diction nor the echoes of individual words but rather something The lines chosen for Charles Search enact a voice in the process more ｳｵ｢ｴｬ･ＮＧＢｾ＠ of rupture a theme that not only possesses obvious 26 Pessoa decided to remove the circumflex from his name in early 1916. cr. Cartas de Fernando Pcssoa 11 Annando C(lrtes-Radrigues (79). 27 fIlexander and Charles Search were brothers. For a detailed description of both fictitious authors see Eu SOli Uma Alltologia (2.;'7-18,285-89). 28 While the surname Search makes the obvious connection ｡ｾ＠ siblings, it is the COlltext of Charles's verse lines (Le. the description of Satan about to break into that reveals his deeper bond with Alexander, who made a written pact with on in his career and whose poetry is obsessed with sin, darkness and death-in-life (ef. Ell Sou Uma Antalogia 212-13,227-48). _. "Genetic Criticism and the Relevance of Metrics in Editing Pessoa's WORKS CITED Poetry." 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"jorge Luis Borges, eI autor de Fernando Pessoa." Aetas do II Congresso ]Ilternacional de Estudos Pessoanos. OpOItO: Centro de Estudos Pessoanos, 1985.399-406. Rosato, Laura and German Alvarez.llorges, libros y lecturas. Buenos Aires: Biblioteca Nacional, 2.010. de Milleret (eds.) JOlge Luis llorges. Cahiers de L'Heme. Paris: Editions de I'Herne, 1981. Roux, Dominique de and Saez Delgado, Antonio. Pessoa y Espaiia. Madrid: Pre-textos, 2.015· Uribe, lorge. Um drama da eritica: Oscar Wilde, Walter Pater e Matthew Arnold lidos por Fernando Pessoa. phD dissertation. University of Lisbon, 2.014· Vaccaro, Alejandro. Georgie 1899-1930. Una vida de Jorge Luis BOIges. Buenos Aires: Editorial Proa, 1.99 6. White, R. S. "Survival and The Sonnet from Milton to the Romantics." The Sonnet. Eds. A.D. Cousins and Peter Howarth. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 201.1. 1.66-84· 21