We shall now provide examples of poetic re-creations from Leaves of Grass so that the reader might judge our work for themselves. We will also add some comments on each poem, in order to situate the reader. For that purpose, we will also provide the original text, and when available, another translation of the same passage for comparison. We begin by quoting stanzas from the poem “Eidólons,” from “Inscriptions.” This is an example of poems in which Whitman uses regular meter. “Eidólons” is an image, a phantom, an appearance, to indicate that above or behind it the real being exists, the soul, our eternal reality. This first stanza below is made up of the following combination: a line of six syllables, then one of five plus one of six again, with a pause between them, then one of eight syllables with one of ten between parenthesis, and ending with one of four. The other verses naturally fell within the natural rhythms of our language, especially verses of six and ten syllables:
STANZA 3:
WHITMAN:
Ever the dim beginning,
Ever the growth, the rounding of the circle,
Ever the summit and the merge at last, (to surely start again,)
Eidólons! eidólons!
.
OUR RE-CREATION:
Sempre o sombrio começo,
Sempre o crescimento, o circundar do círculo,
Sempre o ápice e a fusão por fim, (pra certamente iniciar de novo,)
Ídolos! ídolos!
.
MEIRA[1]:
Sempre o pálido recomeço,
Sempre o crescimento, o arredondamento do círculo,
Sempre o ápice e o amálgama afinal (para o certo recomeço),
Espectros, espectros!
.
STANZA 6:
WHITMAN:
The ostent evanescent,
The substance of an artist’s mood or savan’s[2] studies long,
Or warrior’s, martyr’s, hero’s toils,
To fashion his eidólon.
.
OUR RE-CREATION:
O evanescente aspecto,
A essência do ânimo de um artista ou longos estudos de um erudito,
Ou labutas do guerreiro, mártir, herói,
Para moldar seu ídolo.
.
MEIRA:
A ostentação evanescente,
A substância do humor de um artista ou a longa observação da savana,
As armadilhas de um guerreiro, de um mártir, de um herói,
Para talhar seu espectro.
.
STANZA 20:
WHITMAN:
Thy body permanent,
The body lurking there within thy body,
The only purport of the form thou art, the real I myself,
An image, an eidólon.
.
OUR RE-CREATION:
Teu corpo permanente,
O corpo oculto dentro de teu corpo,
O único sentido da forma que és, o eu mesmo real,
Uma imagem, um ídolo.
.
MEIRA:
Teu corpo permanente,
O corpo espreitando lá dentro de teu corpo,
O único sentido da forma de tua arte, o verdadeiro Eu, eu mesmo,
Uma imagem, um espectro.
[1] The translations by Meira were published in: WHITMAN, WALT. Folhas de Relva. Tradução de Luciano Alves Meira. São Paulo: Martin Claret, 2005, pp.28-31.
[2] Whitman used to write this French word, “savant,” without the “t.” “Savana,” in English, is “savanna” or “savannah.”
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