Castro, Eugénio de

▪ Portuguese poet

born March 4, 1869, Coimbra, Port.

died Aug. 17, 1944, Coimbra

      leading Portuguese Symbolist and Decadent poet.

      Castro's best-known collection of poetry, Oaristos (1890; “Intimate Chats”), launched Symbolism in Portugal. His Symbolism maintains the essential doctrines of the French theorists of the movement, in contrast with the nostalgic nationalism that characterized the poetry of his contemporaries in Portugal. Among his numerous published collections, the best known include Horas (1891; “Hours”), Sagramor (1895), Salomé e Outros Poemas (1896; “Salomé and Other Poems”), Saudades do Céu (1899; “Longings for Heaven”), and Constança (1900), a sensitive interpretation of the personal drama of the wife of Dom Pedro, who later became Peter I of Portugal. Dom Pedro's mistress, Inês de Castro, figures prominently in Portuguese history and literature.

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