Autopsicografia

by Fernando Pessoa

The poet is a feigner
He feigns so completely
That he even feigns that he is suffering
he pains that he is really experiencing.

And those who read what he writes,
As they read, sharply feel
Not the two pains that he had
But only the one they do not

And so, upon its toy tracks,
Runs around, diverting reason
The wound-up mechanical train
That goes by the name of heart

Why I love it: This poem made me wish. I wish I could speak, read, write, understand Portuguese so that I could understand this poem better...feel it more deeply. I also wanted to learn more about the poem and the poet. Here's what I discovered.

THE POEM: Pessoa's mention of "two pains" refers to the poet first experiencing and then simulating (writing about) the pain. The 'one pain' is the reader and this is totaly separate from the poets two pains.

THE POET: Pessoa had four different poet personalities (names he wrote under). He didn't call them pseudonyms, but "heteronyms" becasue they were "autonomous entities of both nature and mode of expression."