Qual é seu <i>corvo</i> predileto?

Abstract

Literary criticism, especially in America, has not always favored Edgar Allan Poe’s work. However, critical contempt seems not to have affected the popularity of this author. Renowned Portuguese and Brazilian poets and translators such as Fernando Pessoa, Haroldo de Campos and Machado de Assis translated The raven into Portuguese. The article shows that the translation of poetry is a specialized task requiring from the translator not only mastery of poetic techniques, but knowledge of the aesthetic principles that govern the author’s work. Poe presented his aesthetic principles in two essays: The philosophy of composition and The poetic principle. Both essays provide guidelines for the translation of his poems and the assessment of the quality of the translation. Poe’s critical essays may serve as parameters for an adequate quality assessment for the Portuguese translation of The Raven.