Two passersby in the crowd: Cecília Meireles and two poems by Baudelaire

Abstract

This article proposes an approach between the poems "Lei do passante"and "Multidão", by Cecília Meireles, both from the book "Poemas escritos na Índia"(Poems Written in India), and "A uma passante"and Äs multidões", the first from "As flores do Mal"(The Flowers of Evil) and the second from "Pequenos poemas em prosa"(Small Prose Poems), by Charles Baudelaire. The comparative analysis starts from the importance of travel, wandering, and modernity for the poetry of both authors, while highlighting the differences, especially regarding each one's relationship with the outside world, the metropolis, and modern life in general. The dialoghe with the French poet, already noted by other researchers, reaffirms Meireles insertion into the tradition of modern poetry, even in a book dedicated to a culture and a society almost entirely different from the Western one. "Lei do passante and "Multidão"are therefore read from two perspectives: intertextuality with Baudelaire's poems and their position within the scope of the set of "Poemas escritos na Índia". Thus, "Lei do passante"is read as a programmatic poem, aimed at presenting the poetic and philosophical assumptions underlying Meireles'wandering in India.