Manuscripts of the poem O Menino d’Olhos de Gigante [The Boy with the Giant's Eyes] for an unfinished book project from 1921 which would go together with A invenção do dia claro [The invention of the bright day], published that same year. It is composed of two manuscripts, ‘A noite rimada’ [The rhymed night] and an untitled second part. The first part, ‘A noite rimada’, was published in the third issue of Contemporânea magazine (July 1922).

Both manuscripts presumably come from the collection of Maria Adelaide Burnay Soares Cardoso, who, under the nickname Lalá, was a member of the ‘Five Colors Club’,* a ballet group created in 1918 on the occasion of the creation and performance of O jardim da Pierrette [The garden of Pierrette], written by Almada. Besides Almada and Lalá the club was formed by Tareca (nickname of Maria Madalena Moraes da Silva Amado), Zeca (Maria José Burnay Soares Cardoso) and Tatão (Maria da Conceição de Mello Breyner). The performance of O jardim da Pierrette was a decisive moment for the genesis of Almada’s poetics of ingenuity, here related to topics seen as essential to creation such as childhood, imagination and spontaneity. Almada would further develop these themes during his stay in Paris between 1919 and 1920.

* Other works from the collection of the CAM also belong to this context. See the drawings and letters with inventory numbers DP167, DP168, DP176, DP183, DP184, DP243, DP244, DP245, DP246, DP247 and DP250.

SAF

May 2010