PLCS 28 (2015)
Fernando Pessoa as English Reader and Writer

Four Unpublished English Sonnets (and the Editorial Status of Pessoa’s English Poetry)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.62791/jem8tm92

Published 2016-09-22

Abstract

ABSTRACT: We present a brief account of the publication history of Pessoa’s English poetry, along with four unpublished sonnets (1907, 1914, 1921, and 1933), each dating from a different decade and accompanied by a corresponding facsimile from the archive at the National Library of Portugal. This evidence dispels the mistaken assumption that Pessoa had discontinued writing English verse by 1920 and enables us to make a strong case for the need to produce a complete critical edition of the unpublished English poems.

KEYWORDS: Fernando Pessoa, critical edition, unpublished English poetry, sonnet