Whether I’m happy or sad?. . .
Frankly I don’t know.
What does it mean to be sad?
What is happiness good for?
I’m neither happy nor sad.
I don’t really know what I am.
I’m just one more soul that exists
And feels what God has ordained.
So then, am I happy or sad?
Thinking never ends well. . .
For me sadness means
Hardly knowing myself. . .
But that’s what happiness is. . .
translated by Richard Zenith
Fernando Pessoa is a fantastic poet. He died misunderstood – clearly decades ahead of his time. His poems are so intense – he wrote under four different voices – his heteronyms. The Book of Disquiet is a must-read!
Thank you for sharing that.
Is a great poem.It makes me feel,sad…and happy!
I’m glad it moved you. And feeling happy and sad isn’t such a bad thing. It is, after all, being alive.
Oh yes,you’re wright,is just being alive!
And that is a wondrous thing.