What now, José?
The party’s over,
the lights are off,
the crowd’s gone,
the night’s gone cold,
what now, José?
what now, you?
you without a name,
who mocks the others,
you who write poetry
who love, protest?
what now, José?
You have no wife,
you have no speech
you have no affection,
you can’t drink,
you can’t smoke,
you can’t even spit,
the night’s gone cold,
the day didn’t come,
the tram didn’t come,
laughter didn’t come
utopia didn’t come
and everything ended
and everything fled
and everything rotted
what now, José?
what now, José?
Your sweet words,
your instance of fever,
your feasting and fasting,
your library,
your gold mine,
your glass suit,
your incoherence,
your hate—what now?
Key in hand
you want to open the door,
but no door exists;
you want to die in the sea,
but the sea has dried;
you want to go to Minas
but Minas is no longer there.
José, what now?
If you screamed,
if you moaned,
if you played
a Viennese waltz,
if you slept,
if you tired,
if you died…
But you don’t die,
you’re stubborn, José!
Alone in the dark
like a wild animal,
without tradition,
without a naked wall
to lean against,
without a black horse
that flees galloping,
you march, José!
José, where to?
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Comments
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The line, "José, what now?" became a popular expression in Brazil. Used many times when we face an impasse or a situation where solution isn't obvious (or even impossible). One of the many Drummond's lines that goes from generation to generation.
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1940 was the beginning of World War Two...seems the first wasn't entertaining enough so they had a sequel...my dad fought in this one, a generation of american citizen soldiers, the last US war with Europe...and Brazil was closely tied to the Axis powers of Italy and Germany, in the 30's and before, probably by investment and manufacturing.
The world changed by Hitler to a march of conquest across Europe and Asia under a pretense that oil was needed for economic survival and would be controlled by others to the detriment of German and Japan aspirations...at any rate Brazil became among the first latin spheres of influence to break away from the Axis when it entered into military arrangements with US and Britain in the early '40's. Just a general notion that somewhere in this poem is a description of Brazil's need to stand independently from the madness of Hitler's Europe...PK -
I too have a strong feeling that Jose` is the centrepiece of something or someone much larger that 1 single person. My knowledge of Brazil around the 1940's rates at nil but I feel quite strongly that Jose' has something to do with politics. Lots of unanswered questions here! ~Von
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Is Jose Brazil, or the Brazilian people? Or maybe some movement, or type of people. I get the distinct feeling he's addressing many, not one.
"you without a name,"
But of course it is Jose which leads me to think Jose is not so much a person but a dilemma.
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