Gregório de Matos: The Quevedo of Brazil

Author(s): Daniel R. Reedy

Source: Comparative Literature Studies, Vol. 2, No. 3 (1965), pp. 241-247
Published by: Penn State University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40245747
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DANIEL R. REEDY

Gregôrio de Matos:

Quevedo of Brazil

ÎIR^ Y x^5 Two 0F SPAIN'S GREAT lyric poets, L

JIIJ) de Quevedo, were dead, but their influence
in the New World was to continue for several gene
Latin American poets, the ascendancy of the poetr
throughout the seventeenth century in some c
eighteenth in others. The Viceroyalty of New
this period whose works showed the strong dom
were the savant Carlos de Sigûenza y Gongora
de la Cruz, who was the outstanding figure among
poets of the colonial period. If the devotees of Q
were not to achieve the renown of such figures as S
greater in number. In fact, long after the obscu
Gongorists was considered as "mal gusto," the w
conceptivists were still very much in vogue.
Only a few of the Spanish American seats of cu
own imitator of Quevedo during the colonial p
Peru there was Rosas de Oquendo, a contempor
royalty of New Granada, the Jesuit Juan Batist
obvious influences from many of the peninsula
Quevedo;1 and in Chile, the famous Padre L
"Quevedo chileno" by his contemporaries.2 Ana
between certain works by Sor Juana and Quevedo,
"Hombres necios que acusàis/a la mujer sin
similarities to passages in Quevedo's La hora de todo
Of all Quevedo's imitators and disciples in Span
works have received the most attention is the Peru
This satirist, who is known primarily for his
practitioners of the Peruvian Viceroyalty, admired
241

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242 ♦ COMPARATIVE LITERATURE STUDIES

him in many of his own works, and occasionally copied his poems with only
slight variations.
Brazil was no exception insofar as Quevedo's eminence in the New World
was concerned. His most obvious adherent was Gregorio de Matos Guerra,
who was born in Bahia on December 20, 1633. He received his early education
from the Jesuits and probably began to write his first verses at the age of nine.
Later he went to Portugal and studied at the University of Coimbra from 1652
to 1661, when he received a law degree. In his "Epistola ao Conde do Prado,"
Matos remembers his stay in Portugal. He says :
Era eu em Portugal
Sabio, discreto, entendido,
Poeta, melhor que alguns,
Douto como os meus vizinhos.4

In another romance the poet indicates his affection for Coimbra and Portugal
by declaring that he is a Lusitanian by birth. He states: "Eu sou um
Conimbricense, /Nascido nestas montanhas . . ." (Ill, 60). During his years
of residence in Portugal, Matos became acquainted with the widely circulated
prose and verse writings of the Spanish satirist Quevedo.
On his return to Brazil in 1681, Gregorio de Matos obviously found renewed
sources of inspiration for his caustic wit. He saw about him the cruel reality
of the life of his time - the decadence of Bahia, the badly managed colonial
government, the political intrigues, and the obvious shortcomings of the various
segments of Bahia society. In one of his poems, written at the time of his
return, he speaks of Bahia and the province :

Que nâo ha nem pode haver,

Desde o Sul ao Norte frio,
Cidade com mais maldades,
Nem provincia com mais vicios. . . (IV, 181)

Few facets of Bahia society managed to escape the barbs of his poetic
invectives. He satirized whites, Negroes, mulattoes, Indians, governors,
politicians, military men, priests, scholars, and prostitutes. One critic has
aptly stated that Matos' poetry presents a kind of grotesque human comedy.5
Matos' countrymen reacted violently to his vicious attacks, but the poet re-
mained undaunted by their hostility. As a result of his mordant satire, Matos
received the title of "Boca do Inferno," a nickname by which he is best re-
membered in present-day Brazil.
Like Quevedo, Matos directed many of his satirical and jocular works against
women, and it is evident that he found them easy subjects for his barbed
verses. The majority of the women satirized are mulatas. In the case of the
mulata Vicencia, Matos attacks her in a sonnet (V, 19) for her promiscuity
after having discovered that she had three lovers at the same time. Also evident
in this poem are scabrous images which are typical of those to be found in
much of his unpublished poetry.
"Boca do Inferno's" opinion of female inconstancy is best summed up in
his single décima entitled "A uma Dama vestida de verde" (V, 293) . Utilizing

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 THE QUEVEDO OF BRAZIL + 243

clever play on words and some conceptivism, the poet asserts that women
should dress in green clothing as a symbol of their original downfall:
Quando la no ameno prado
A mie Eva a graça perde,
Logo se veste de verde,
Em sinal de haver pecado:
A dama nos ha mostrado
No verde sua caida.
Si uma de puro sentida
Logo de verde se enluta,
A dama de pura puta
De verde seja vestida. (V, 293)

Although Matos was caustic in his poetic treatment of women, it should

be noted that in his personal life he knew and loved many. They include the
frivolous Angela, the mulata Bartola, the brunette Beatriz, together with
Babu, Damazia, Anica, Floralva, Tereza, Antonia, Mariana, and many others,
if the amorous expression in his poetry can be accepted as testimony to his
enchantment with these women. He ultimately married Maria de Povos, a
beautiful young widow, but her life with the bohemian Matos was neither
happy nor peaceful. She finally left him, but was persuaded by her relatives to
return. Gregorio made it clear to her, however, that in his house "Quern
mandava nâo era a galinha, era o galo."6
Members of the clergy are accused of various sins by the poet. In the case
of an archbishop, Frei Joao da Madré de Deus, Matos charges that he is
primarily concerned with his own salvation and further states that his interests
in young ladies are not the most honorable (IV, 112-116). In a romance
entitled "Ao Padre Damazo da Silva," the poet accuses the Father of being a
liar:

Damazo, aquele madraço,

Que em pés, mâos e mais miudos,
Pode bem dar seis e az
Ao maior Frizao de Hamburgo:
Cuja boca é mentideira
Onde acode todo o vulgo,
A escutar la sobre a tarde
As mentiras como punhos. . . (IV, 210)

Even though his sarcasm may seem extreme, Gregorio de Matos was certainly
no more derisive in his criticism of clergymen than were his model Quevedo
and his contemporary Caviedes in such poems as "A un canonigo capon. . . ."
Besides the more obvious similarities seen in subject matter, satire, and
some conceptivism, there are other stylistic likenesses to be found in the
poetic works of Quevedo and Matos. In some cases there seems to be little
doubt that the Brazilian poet consulted Quevedo's works for his inspiration,
but then wrote his own poems without adhering to the Spanish poet very
closely. One example of this is seen in Matos' "Retrato" of Antonio Luiz
Gonçalvez da Camara Coutinho, Bahia's governor from 1 690-1 692. Matos
describes him as follows :

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244 + COMPARATIVE LITERATURE STUDIES
Va de retrato
por consoantes;
Que eu sou Timantes
De um nariz de tocano cor de pato.
Pelo cabelo
Comença a obra,
Que o tempo sobra
Para pintar a giba do camelo.

Nariz de embono
Com tal sacada,
Que entra na escada
Duras horas primeiro que seu dono. (IV, 113-114)

Quevedo's sonnet "A una nariz" does not present the same images, but there is
certainly the possibility that Gregorio de Matos knew the Spanish satirist's
poem which begins :
Erase un hombre a una nariz pegado,
erase una nariz superlativa,
erase una nariz sayon y escriba,
erase un peje espada muy barbado. . J

A closer resemblance to Mato's poem may be noted in the imagery of a

romance entitled "A un narigon disforme" by Caviedes. The Peruvian says:
Tu gran nariz, don Antonio,
del tribu de Benjamin,
me esta tentando a un romance
agudo acabado en y.

Nariz mensajera es, puesto

que emba jades da de ti
en las visitas; si antes
te salen a recibir,
"don Antonio viene" dicen,
y hay tiempo de prévenir
el chocolate una hora antes
que entre tu cuerpo ruin.8

There are enough similarities between many of the works of both Matos and
Caviedes to suggest strongly that the two contemporary figures were familiar
with each other's poems. But this suggestion must be left to further in-
vestigation.
The number of Quevedo's poems which Matos paraphrased is relatively
small, but some close imitations do exist. One is the poem "Ao confessor do
Arcebispo D. Frei Joao da Madré de Deus." Matos says:
Eu, que me nlo sei calar,
Mas antes tenho por mingua,
Nâo purgar-se qualquer lingua,
A risco de arrebentar:
Vos quero, amigo, contar
(Pois sois o meu secretario)
Um sucesso extraordinario,
Um cazo tremendo e atroz:
Porém fique aqui entre nos. (IV, 297)

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 THE QUEVEDO OF BRAZIL ♦ 245

In a letrilla written in 1606, Quevedo had said the following:

Yo, que nunca se callar,
y solo tengo por mengua
no vaciarme por la lengua
y el morirme por hablar,
a todos quiero contar
cierto secreto que of.
Mas no ha de salir de aqui. {Obras, II, 79)

In Matos' "Epigramas sobre varios assuntos," there is ample evidence that in

this work the Brazilian poet did borrow his ideas from Quevedo, even though
he did not imitate his source verbatim :

Querem-me aqui todos mal,

E eu quero mal a todos,
Eles e eu por nossos modos
Nos pagamos tal por tal:
E querendo eu mal a quantos
Me têm odio tâo veemente,
O meu odio é mais valente,
Pois sou so, e eles tantos. (IV, 274)

The romance by Quevedo which provided the ideas for Matos' poem begins as
follows:
Muchos dicen mal de mi,
y yo digo mal de muchos;
mi decir es mas valiente,
por ser tantos y ser uno. {Obras, II, 159)

Also, the estribillo of Quevedo's best-known letrilla is echoed in one of Matos'

poems. We refer to the "Poderoso caballero / es don Dinero" {Obras, II, 73).
In Matos' letrilla "A um homem humilde, que se meteu a fidalgo," one of the
stanzas ends as follows:
Tende paciencia interna,
Pois sempre foi Dom Dinheiro
Podorozo cavalheiro,
Que com poderes reais
Faz iguais aos desiguais,
E conde ao vilao cada hora.
Entendeis-me agora? (V, 202)

From the few examples presented above, it may be asserted that Gregorio de
Matos used many of Quevedo's works as his source of inspiration and even
paraphrased a number of others.
Besides the similarities which have been pointed out in the works of
Quevedo and Matos, there are likenesses that may be noted in the lives of the
two writers. The most important of these biographical similarities is their
persecution by their respective governments.
When Philip IV came to the Spanish throne in 1621, he chose Gaspar de
Guzman, the Count-duke of Olivares, as his prime minister. During the last
five years of Olivares' government before he was dismissed in 1643, there
was severe criticism of both the king and his prime minister. Quevedo was
one of the most outspoken of these critics. The complete break between the

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246 ♦ COMPARATIVE LITERATURE STUDIES

count-duke and Quevedo came when Philip IV discovered a "Memorial"

beneath his napkin at dinner. The now well-known poem which begins
"Catolica, sacra, real Majestad . . ." goes on to criticize Olivares and the
deplorable state of the Spanish empire. The poem's appearance, together with
an unsuccessful plot to overthrow the government, brought about Quevedo's
banishment to the Convent of San Marcos (Leon), where he remained until
1643, when Olivares was dismissed from his post.
The parallel between what has been described above and Gregorio de
Matos' experiences in Bahia is striking. Shortly after Matos' return from
Portugal in 1681, Antonio de Souza de Menezes, nicknamed "Braço de Prata,"
was appointed governor of Bahia. During his rule, 1 682-1 684, he established
one of the most despotic and corrupt governments in Brazil's colonial history.
Like that of Quevedo, Matos' ire exploded in poetic diatribes against the
governor and the injustices perpetrated by his officials. Matos says:
Sôr Antonio de Souza de Menezes,
Quern sobe ao alto logar, que nao merece,
Homem sobe, asno vai, burro parece,
Que o subir é desgraça muitas vezes.
A fortunilha, autora de entremezes,
Transpôe em burro herôe, que indigno cresce:
Desanda a roda, e logo homem parece.
Que é discreta a fortuna em seus revezes. (IV, 64)

Finally in June of 1683 a conspiracy was carried out against the government
of Souza de Menezes, with the result that one of his officials was assassinated.
The governor's retaliation was swift and thorough. Many nobles were obliged
to leave the country, and even the famous Jesuit Antonio Viera was accused of
having participated in the plot. Matos' part in the conspiracy is uncertain,
but he and several others took refuge in a convent. Later the poet managed
to escape to Praia Grande, where he was soon captured and imprisoned for a
short time by "Braço Forte," Souza de Menezes' brother-in-law.
Bahia's next important governor was the previously mentioned Camara
Coutinho, whose renown was primarily due to the fact that he had a monstrous
nose. Gregorio was evidently unable to withstand this new source of inspira-
tion, because there soon appeared a letrilla in which he depicted the governor's
nose as "um nariz de tocano cor de pato" (IV, 113). In another poem Matos
attacked the governor vehemently, even to the point of questioning the purity
of his lineage. He says :
A vos, merda dos Fidalgos;
A vos, escoria dos Godos;
Filho do Espirito Santo
E bisneto de um caboclo. . . (IV, 94)

As payment for the poet's ridicule, the governor exiled him to the engenhos
of Reconcavo. Even after the arrival of a new governor, Camara Coutinho's
son continued plotting to have the poet murdered. When his plan failed,
he was instrumental in having Matos exiled to Angola, where the poet re-
mained for almost two years. When he was allowed to return to Brazil in

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 THE QUEVEDO OF BRAZIL ♦ 247

1695, the government prohibited him from writing satirical poetry, and he
reputedly turned to religious themes and contemplative works until his
death in 1696.
Even though the primary purpose of this study has been to point out the
similarities in the lives and works of Quevedo and Matos, it must be stated
that Gregorio de Matos is certainly more than a mere reflection of his Spanish
model, even though he was obviously indebted to him at times. Poets such as
Quevedo, Caviedes, and Matos were the watchmen of the society and mores
of their time. Unlike the Gongorists, they did not choose to live in a hermetic
world into which few could enter. Matos himself was clearly aware of the
shortcomings and vices of his environment as is evidenced by the subject
matter which he chose for his satirical verse. His audacity in attacking moral
decay and corruption in social institutions earned him the persecution of his
government and the condemnation of his countrymen.
The importance of Matos' works transcends their obvious significance
as accurate reflections of seventeenth-century Brazilian life. His merit as a
poet can be found in the artistry with which he expressed himself in his
religious and amorous poetry, as well as in the works of social satire. In
his own country he is unquestionably the first poet of major importance;
and with Sor Juana Inès de la Cruz and Juan del Valle Caviedes, Matos should
be considered as one of the three outstanding New World poets of that period.
The University of North Carolina

NOTES

1. Emilio Carilla, Quevedo, entre dos centenarios (Tucuman, Argentina, 1949), pp. 230-2
2. Juan Uribe Echcvarrîa, "Quevedos americanos," Atenea, LXXXl (July, 1945), 133.
3. Carilla, pp. 213-214.
4. Obras de Gregôrio de Matos, ed. Acadcmia Brasileira, 5 vols. (Rio de Janeiro, 1 929-1 9
IV, 258. Subsequent citations from Matos' works will be taken from this edition. Volume and
numbers will be given in parentheses in the text.
5. Antonio Soares Amora, Historta da hteratura brasileira (Sao Paulo, 1950), pp. 25-
6. Maria del Carmen Barquin, Gregorio de Matos (Mexico, 1940;, p. 104.
7. Obras complétas de Don Francisco de Quevedo Vtllegas, ed. Luis Astrana Mann, 2 vols.
(Madrid, 1932), II, 183. Subsequent citations from Quevedo's works will be to this text. Volume
and page numbers will be given in parentheses.
8. Daniel R. Reedy, "Poesias méditas de Juan del Valle Caviedes," Kevtsta Iberoamericana,
xxix (1963), 172-175.

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