Mihai Eminescu’s Romanian Hexameters: translation to Portuguese and comments on the poem ‘Mitologicale’

Abstract

In this article, I present a translation of Mihai Eminescu’s poem Mitologicale. Eminescu (1850-1889) is one of the most important Romanian poets. This sui generis poem was published, posthumously, for the first time in 1902, in the journal Sămănătorul (The Sower). Nevertheless there are two manuscripts dating from the time Eminescu was in Berlin which testify that the poem was written when the author was then 23 years old in 1873. In addition, I propose an analysis of the poem discussing its parodical treatment of the mythical narrative and I observe Emineuscu’s ability to merge the old and the new, the high and the popular. Using the classic-looking dactylic hexameter, the Bucovian author creates a narrative that unites all dimensions of the Romanian folk tale with an ironically archaic prosody, evoking a particular melancholic philosophy. At the end, I comment on rhythm and verse issues, and some questions on translating rhythm, presenting a brief balance of the translational and writing practices of the dactylic hexameter.