Marino, a tragedy, part I—Datable fragments and lists

Abstract

The English dramas of Fernando Pessoa are virtually unknown. Pessoa’s archive includes fragments of Marino, Prometheus Rebound (or Revinctus), and Duke of Parma—three dramatic projects that remain almost entirely unpublished. This paper is the first of two aiming to present Marino, the earliest of these English dramas. The editorial introduction includes a brief background on Pessoa’s drama, a discussion of the state of the art of Pessoa’s English plays, notes on defining and dating the corpus of Marino, a commentary on the meter and versification employed by Pessoa, and an explanation of the transcription criteria and symbols used. The edition includes half of Marino’s corpus, featuring transcriptions, facsimiles, and a critical apparatus of: 23 datable fragments (14 of them previously unpublished) written between 1903–1908; an outline of the play likely made in 1906; and 13 lists in which Pessoa refers to the drama between 1903–1914.

Keywords

• fernando pessoa
• verse drama
• english drama (tragedy)
• manuscripts
• facsimiles
• theater
• modernism (literature)
• critical editions