Translation of the song Msg21 Horizonte artist Fernando Pessoa

Portuguese

Msg21 Horizonte

English translation

Msg21 Horizon

Ó mar anterior a nós, teus medos

Oh sea before us, your fears

Tinham coral e praias e arvoredos.

Had coral and beaches and groves.

Desvendadas a noite e a cerração,

Unveiled to night and fog,

As tormentas passadas e o mistério,

The past tempests and the mystery,

Abria em flor o Longe, e o Sul sidério

The Faraway opened in flower, and the starry South

Esplendia sobre as naus da iniciação.

Shimmered upon the ships of initiation.

Linha severa da longínqua costa —

Severe line of remote coast -

Quando a nau se aproxima ergue-se a encosta

When the ship draws near the slope elevates itself

Em árvores onde o Longe nada tinha;

In trees where the Faraway had nothing;

Mais perto, abre-se a terra em sons e cores:

Nearer, the earth opens itself in sounds and colors:

E, no desembarcar, há aves, flores,

And, upon landing, there are birds, flowers,

Onde era só, de longe a abstracta linha.

Where there was but, from faraway the abstract line.

O sonho é ver as formas invisíveis

The dream is to see the invisible forms

Da distância imprecisa, e, com sensíveis

Of the imprecise distance, and, with sensible

Movimentos da esperança e da vontade,

movements of hope and of will,

Buscar na linha fria do horizonte

To find in the cold line of the horizon

A árvore, a praia, a flor, a ave, a fonte —

The tree, the beach, the flower, the bird, the spring -

Os beijos merecidos da Verdade.

The deserved kisses of Truth.

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