Bernardo Guimarães

Bernardo Guimarães
Born
Bernardo Joaquim da Silva Guimarães

(1825-08-15)15 August 1825
Died10 March 1884(1884-03-10) (aged 58)
OccupationPoet, novelist
Alma materUniversity of São Paulo
Literary movementRomanticism
Notable worksA Escrava Isaura, O Seminarista, O Garimpeiro
SpouseTeresa Maria Gomes de Lima

Bernardo Joaquim da Silva Guimarães (Portuguese pronunciation: [beʁˈnaʁdu ɡimaˈɾɐ̃js]; August 15, 1825 – March 10, 1884) was a Brazilian poet and novelist. He is the author of the famous romances A Escrava Isaura and O Seminarista. He also introduced to Brazilian poetry the verso bestialógico (Portuguese: [ˈvɛʁsu beʃtʃjaˈlɔʒiku], roughly silly verse), also referred to as pantagruélico (in a reference to Rabelais's character Pantagruel) — poems whose verses are very nonsensical, although very metrical. Under the verso bestialógico, he wrote polemical erotic verses, such as "O Elixir do Pajé" (The Witchdoctor's Elixir) and "A Origem do Mênstruo" (The Origin of Menstruation). A non-erotic poem written in verso bestialógico is "Eu Vi dos Polos o Gigante Alado" (From the Poles I Saw the Winged Giant).

He is patron of the fifth chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters.