QUENTAL, ANTHERO DE (1842-1891)

This article appears in Volume V22, Page 742 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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QUENTAL, ANTHERO DE (1842-1891) , Portuguese poet, was born on the island of St Michael, in the Azores, on the 18th of April 1842. He studied at the university of Coimbra, and soon distinguished himself by unusual talent, as well as turbulence and eccentricity. He began to write poetry at an early age, chiefly, though not entirely, devoting himself to the sonnet. After the publication of one volume of verse, he entered with

great

GREAT

warmth into the revolt of the

young

men which dethroned

Castilho

CASTILHO, ANTONIO FELICIANO DE (1800-1875)

, the

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

living poet of the elder generation, from his place as dictator over modern Portuguese literature. He then travelled, engaged on his return in political and socialistic agitations, and found his way through a

series

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

of disappointments to the mild pessimism, a kind of Western Buddhism, which animates his latest poetical productions. His melancholy was increased by a spinal disease, which after several years of retirement from the world, eventually drove him to suicide in his native island, on the Irth of September 1891. Anthero stands at the head of modern Portuguese poetry after Joao de Deus. His principal defect is monotonyhis own self is his solitary theme, and he seldom attempts any other form of composition than the sonnet. On the other hand, few poets who have chiefly devoted themselves to this form have produced so large a proportion of really exquisite

work

WORK

. The comparatively few pieces in which he either forgets his doubts and inward conflicts, or succeeds in giving them an objective form, are among the most beautiful in any literature. The purely introspective sonnets are less attractive, but equally finely wrought, interesting as psychological studies, and impressive from their sincerity. His mental attitude is well described by himself as " the effect of Germanism on the unprepared mind of a Southerner." He had learned much, and half-learned more, which he was unable to assimilate, and his mind became a

chaos

CHAOS

of conflicting ideas, settling down into a condition of gloomy negation, save for the one conviction of the vanity of existence, which ultimately destroyed him. A healthy participation in public affairs might have saved him, but he seemed incapable of entering upon any course that did not lead to delusion and disappointment. The

great

GREAT

popularity acquired, notwithstanding, by poetry so metaphysical and egotistic is a testimony to the artistic instinct of the Portuguese.
As a

prose

PROSE

writer Quental displayed high talents, though he
wrote little. His most important

prose

PROSE

work

WORK

is the Consideracaes sobre a philosophia da historia literaria Portugueza, but he earned fame by his pamphlets on the Coimbra question, Born senso e bom gosto, a

letter

LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the alphabet; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

Castilho

CASTILHO, ANTONIO FELICIANO DE (1800-1875)

, and A dignidade das lettras e litteraturas officiaes.
His friend Oliveira Martins edited the Sonnets (Oporto, 1886), supplying an introductory essay; and an interesting collection of studies on the poet by the leading Portuguese writers appeared in a volume entitled Anthero de Quental. In Memoriam (Oporto, 1896). The sonnets have been turned into most European languages; into English by Edgar Prestage (Anthero de Quental, Sixty-four Sonnets, London, 1894), together with a striking autobiographical

letter

LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the alphabet; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

addressed by Quental to his German translator, Dr Storck.

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