Drummond and Valéry: eventual enigmas

Abstract

This paper presents a reading of Claro enigma, by Drummond, adverse to the opposition between this book and A rosa do povo. The key for the reading is the epigraph in Claro enigma, “Les événements m’ennuient”, by Valéry. The study amplifies Arrigucci Junior’s opinion about the relationship between exterior and interior in Drummond’s poetry: there are poems of sensitive interiority in A rosa do povo, and the historical thought permeates Claro enigma. As paratext, the valerian epigraph is approached according to Genette’s theory. Thus the epigraph is not read literally, but according to their possible sources: “Propos me concernant” and a letter to André Gide published in Histoire-Politique. The study proposes the poem “O enigma”, included in Novos poemas, as a bridge between A rosa do povo and Claro enigma, essential to perceive the exterior and interior expressiveness as the poetic unit in Drummond writings.