The surgical blade: a study on João Cabral and Marianne Moore

Abstract

We can affirm that one of the main characteristics about the work of the Brazilian poet João Cabral de Melo Neto (1920-1999) is the metalanguage use, but a metalanguage that is frequently in relation to aesthetic appreciations about other writers and artists, too. Examples of this critical poetry of João Cabral are his poems on the American poet Marianne Moore (1887-1972). During his life, João Cabral produced five poems whose subject was Moore and/or her work. Knowing that this critical vision on other artists often reflects a critical vision upon himself, our essay claims to verify certain aesthetic implications established in these Cabral’s poems on Marianne Moore.