Fernando Pessoa: a short presentation

A beloved friend of mine. Since a long time ago. An intimate friend for all hours. I shouldn't be writing about him. I just should leave you alone with him. He knows best how to conquer you, if you're not a friend of his already.

A Poet – Fernando Pessoa – with several different voices – Álvaro de Campos, Ricardo Reis, Alberto Caeiro, Bernardo Soares…
Listen to them as if you were desperately thirsty, eager for a glass of water. He'll alleviate your frantic feeling…


The poet is a faker
Who's so good at his act.
He even fakes the pain
Of pain he feels in fact.

Fernando Pessoa (orthonym): «Autopsychography»

I'm nothing.
I'll always be nothing.
I can't want to be anything.
Apart from that, I have in me all the dreams of the world.

Álvaro de Campos (heteronym): «Tabacaria»

(The Tobacco Shop)

As long as I feel the full breeze in my hair
And see the sun shining bright on the leaves,
I will not ask for more.
What better thing could destiny give me
Than the sensual passing of life in moments
Of ignorance like this?

Ricardo Reis (heteronym): «Odes»

I have no ambitions and no desires.
To be a poet is not my ambition,
It's my way of being alone.

Alberto Caeiro (heteronym): «O Guardador de Rebanhos»

(The Keeper of Sheep)

These are not some of his best poems, but just those I could find in the meanwhile in reliable English translation.