Sometimes it seems that we live in a time not of decadence, but of stupor in the face of the cultural destruction that has already taken place. It is as if we were in the midst of the rubble, perplexed and without action. Gone are the safe, the stable, the “certain”, gone are the north and the good; words have been emptied of meaning and criteria deconstructed, while the subversive has been put on a pedestal. Culturally, absurdities stand out that, after a moment of brilliance, are soon forgotten and replaced by others; and in this succession in which nothing lasts but the nonsense, there seems to be nothing firm to stand on.
Category: Notes
Freedom in Discipline
Auguste Dorchain, in L’art des vers, admirably defined the charm provided by poetry: “la surprise dans la sécurité”, “la variété dans l’unité”, “la liberté dans la discipline”. It is the balance between such contrasts that gives us a sense of pleasure in going through a poetic work. Without the security, the unity, the discipline, we do not find the whole harmonious; without the surprise, the variety, the freedom, it does not seem stimulating. Thus, it is fair that a poet defines which elements will represent the first qualities, and which the second in his poem. It is by balancing them that a well-made whole is built, even if it leans more toward the most desired effect. While the yearning for freedom that inspired poets of the past is understandable, while many innovations have renewed and enhanced admirably the poetic art, it seems a depreciation of art to accept it performed in any way, as if the music of a layman playing a musical instrument in disorderly fashion were rewarded with praise.
Regularity and Dynamism
We jump from English to Portuguese poetic theory and observe a contrast. In English, rhythmic regularity is valued, when it seems Portuguese theorists agree that variety gives dynamism to poems and is, therefore, preferable to avoid “monotony”. The curious thing is that the latter do not suspect that there is no rhythm without regularity and end up fatally praising the rhythm of poems that do not have it. Any sentence spoken in any language will have an intonation, or a “cadence” of its own when analyzed individually. Poetry, however, arranges phrases in such a way that there is a harmonious link between them, a link determined by rhythm. If, from one verse to the next, everything changes, there can be no rhythm in the composition, unless one makes a creative and non-musical use of this word.
Although Censorship Is an Unspeakable Cruelty…
Although censorship is an unspeakable cruelty, and although it is very effective in the short and medium term, for some reason it does not seem strong enough to last. So it should be noted that there are limits even to the fullest censorship. Censorship cannot, for example, hide itself completely: there will always be at least one pair of eyes capable of identifying it. And that pair of eyes, even if gagged and punished, will have something with it that censorship cannot corrupt. In this, censorship is also treacherous to the censor, who, however astute and methodical he may be, can never hide his crime, which will be fatally exposed over time, since its effects are too evident. Thus we have that the censor, however delightful the momentary benefits may be to him, will have to face the fact that they are momentary, and eternal the reputation of a scoundrel that he has irrevocably attached to his name.