Ruy Belo: a man of words

Abstract

In 1970, Ruy Belo publishes Homem de Palavra(s), his fourth book of po­ems. A man of words himself, Belo knew that poetry is intricacy, rigor, and formal care, but that a poet is also a man within society and that he brings with him a cultural load that influences his writing. Through a brief interpretative reading of the poem “Os estivadores”, the main pur­pose of this article is to observe Belo’s attention to the aesthetic principles required to write a poem, even starting from a theme of everyday life (a striking characteristic of his poetry): the image of men working on the docks. This analysis emphasizes Belo’s care in the construction of his verses, the voices that echo from his readings and experiences, and his attention to the reality that surrounds the poet, represented by the dock­workers.