''Mensagem'' is a book by Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa. It is composed of 44 poems, and was called the "livro pequeno de poemas" or the "little book of poems". It was published in 1934 by Parceria António Maria Pereira. The book was awarded, in the same year, with the Prémio Antero de Quental in the poem category by the '' Secretariado Nacional de Informação'' of the Estado Novo. ''Mensagem'' was published just one year before the death of the author, and is about the past of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. In particular it contemplates the ancient grandeur of Portugal, and glorifies above all the style of

Luís de Camões Luís Vaz de Camões (; or 1525 – 10 June 1580), sometimes rendered in English as Camoens or Camoëns ( ), is considered Portugal's and the Portuguese language's greatest poet. His mastery of verse has been compared to that of William Shakes ...

, the author of

Os Lusíadas ''Os Lusíadas'' (), usually translated as ''The Lusiads'', is a Portuguese epic poem written by Luís Vaz de Camões ( – 1580) and first published in 1572. It is widely regarded as the most important work of Portuguese-language literature ...

, and the

Portuguese discoveries Portuguese maritime explorations resulted in numerous territories and maritime routes recorded by the Portuguese on journeys during the 15th and 16th centuries. Portuguese sailors were at the vanguard of European exploration, chronicling and mapp ...

. It points to these people and events as ones which Pessoa believed could regenerate, or return Portugal to its past greatness.

Creation

The original title of the book was ''Portugal''. However a friend of Pessoa convinced him that "Mensagem" would be a more appropriate title as "Portugal" had already been widely used with common products. Pessoa liked the word "mensagem" because of the expression in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: ''Mens agitat molem'', meaning, "the spirit moves matter" a phrase from the epic poem ''

The Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who fled the fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. Written by the Roman poet Virgil between 29 and ...

'' by

Vergil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: the ''Eclogues'' ...

, said by

Anchises In Greek and Roman mythology, Anchises (; ) was a member of the royal family of Troy. He was said to have been the son of King Capys of Dardania and Themiste, daughter of Ilus, who was son of Tros. He is most famous as the father of Aeneas a ...

when he was explaining the Universe to

Aeneas In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas ( , ; from ) was a Troy, Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus (mythology), Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy ...

. Pessoa did not use the original meaning of the quote which is of the existence of a universal principle from which emanate all beings. According to a letter dated to 13 January 1935 to Adolfo Casais Monteiro, ''Mensagem'' was the first book that Pessoa was able to complete.

References

{{Authority control 1934 poetry books Portuguese poetry collections Works by Fernando Pessoa