On 28 October, a tea party was held at the Naval Military Club with Prof. Helena Buesco, the first person in our country to obtain a doctorate in Comparative Literature, who gave us an exceptional lecture on ‘Camões and the poets of the 19th century’, looking at the relationship between the work of Camões and poets and writers who never had any direct contact with each other.
He wrote about Camões and his misfortunes, the poet and his work, which inspired all other poets, such as Bocage (both had similar life trajectories). And perhaps no other poet had as much influence on him as Camões, especially in the structure of sonnets, in the themes of love and disappointment, but with a more satirical and realistic vision in contrast to Camões’ idealisation. His poem ‘Camões, great Camões, how similar / I find your fate to mine, when I compare them!’ states that influence.
Camões lives on, with renewed vitality, thanks to Alexandre Herculano, Antero de Quental, Fernando Pessoa and the young Almeida Garret, a poetic genius who wrote ‘Camões’ and with it heralded the arrival of Portuguese Romanticism.
A very brief summary of an enriching, rewarding afternoon.
