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A review by lauren_endnotes
Cattle of the Lord: Poems by Rosa Alice Branco
4.0
An exploration of the sacred and profane - Christian rituals and violent acts side by side. Lots of animal imagery, sometime gory, sometimes beautiful.
Animals do not aspire to eternity.
That must have been the substance of the soul denied them.
I would fire an employee for less.
My dog pretends I am his dog.
He throws me a bone and I run after it, we all run after it.
That's how one knows in life why one aspires.
Proof proven: we have a soul.
--from Proof of the Soul
Translated literature always fascinates me, and this collection, so steeped in ritual and imagery, struck me as a particularly challenging translation from the original Portuguese. I enjoyed reading Alexis Levitin's notes about his time with Rosa Alice Branco - I could picture them on some amazing seaside terrace in Porto discussing this collection.
Other highlights:
Paths That Lead Nowhere
More is Less
One Less
Via Sacra
Animals of the Earth
No Complaint Book
3.5 stars rounded up for the translation ~
Animals do not aspire to eternity.
That must have been the substance of the soul denied them.
I would fire an employee for less.
My dog pretends I am his dog.
He throws me a bone and I run after it, we all run after it.
That's how one knows in life why one aspires.
Proof proven: we have a soul.
--from Proof of the Soul
Translated literature always fascinates me, and this collection, so steeped in ritual and imagery, struck me as a particularly challenging translation from the original Portuguese. I enjoyed reading Alexis Levitin's notes about his time with Rosa Alice Branco - I could picture them on some amazing seaside terrace in Porto discussing this collection.
Other highlights:
Paths That Lead Nowhere
More is Less
One Less
Via Sacra
Animals of the Earth
No Complaint Book
3.5 stars rounded up for the translation ~