The mountain and the poet: a balcony viewing to the Andes in poems of João Cabral de Melo Neto

Abstract

In the examination of João Cabral de Melo Neto’s poetry, a series of landscapes in verse takes center stage. These depictions primarily correspond to geographical coordinates aligned with Cabral’s diplomatic endeavors as part of the Brazilian diplomatic team at Itamaraty. For this paper, we have selected a corpus of poems dedicated to the Andean region, with a specific focus on texts reflecting the author’s sojourn in Ecuador from 1979 to 1981. This collection includes poems published in the section “Viver nos Andes” in Agrestes (1985) and poems posthumously gathered as part of the poet’s unpublished works. Our analysis is enriched by insights into the relationship between poetry and landscape provided by Michel Collot (2013) and Ida Alves (2013). Additionally, we incorporate critical perspectives on Cabral’s poetry offered by Marta Peixoto (1983), Carlos André Pinheiro (2007), and Antonio Carlos Secchin (2020). Within the examined texts, the image of Chimborazo, a dormant volcano overseeing the Andean mountain range, serves as a figurative element infused with pedagogical and aesthetic ideals for the poet-observer. This observer aspires to achieve a measured diction akin to the controlled lava of the geological element. Furthermore, a comparative analysis with Simón Bolívar’s text “Mi delírio sobre el Chimborazo,” written in the early 1820s, reveals an interactionist aspect guiding the concept of landscape and, consequently, its formalization in poetic texts. Different viewpoints resonate in diverse ways within poetic representations.