The World War II (1939-1945) ) is, by consensus, the most catastrophic and impacting event in human history. This characteristic becomes understandable as this war is compared with the others that preceded it. Proportionally, the number of dead and the potential for destruction of the weapons used in it are vastly superior to any others. In general, poets and writers, playwrights, etc., manage to apprehend facts like this with greater sensitivity. This is the case, for example, of Vinicius from Moraes with the poem “A Pink from Hiroshima” , which specifically explores the bomb theme atomic launched over the Japanese city.
Vinicius from Moraes (1913-1980) conceived the poem mentioned shortly after the United States dropped the first of two nuclear bombs on Japanese soil, in August 1945. Being contemporary with this tragic event, the poet sensitively sought to record the terrible impact caused by the use of this weapon of mass destruction. against the civilian population. Of the two Japanese cities hit by the bombs, Hiroshima and Nagasaki , the poem, as its title indicates, deals with the first of them.
Let's look at the poem in full:
Think of the children
telepathic seedlings
think about the girls
inexact blind
think about women
changed routes
think about the wounds
like warm roses
But oh don't forget
From the rose to the rose
From the rose of Hiroshima
the hereditary rose
the radioactive rose
stupid and invalid
The rose with cirrhosis
the atomic anti-rose
colorless without perfume
No pink, nothing.
Through precious metaphors, Vinicius de Moares intended to “immortalize” this event, like the term “rose”, which, stripped of its positive symbolization, expresses more than one negative correspondence . For example:1) the very shape of a “flower” that the cloud of radioactive smoke assumed after the detonation of the bomb and 2) the wounds produced by the radiation, as one reads in the verses:“Think of the wounds/ Like warm roses ”.
Also, there is an appeal to memory, in the body of the poem. “But, oh, don't forget/ The rose, the rose ,” which fits a proposal to awaken the historical awareness of those who read and, above all, of those who, in the future, will still read the poem. This appeal is followed by more metaphors related to the word “rose” that sensitize the reader’s imagination, such as the following:“The radioactive rose / Stupid and invalid / The rose with cirrhosis / The atomic anti-rose ” .
This poem still has the characteristic of stimulating a critical reflection on the limits of human reason regarding the use of science (and technology) , given the direct relationship between this problem and the issue of atomic bombs. The Spanish painter Goya (1746-1828) has a phrase that fits this reflection. Said Goya:“The dream of reason produces monsters”. The development of science and technology, which provided progress and comfort, also spawned “monsters” such as modern wars and their weapons of mass destruction. Vinícius de Moraes knew how to capture these contradictions.
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*Image credits:Commons
By Me. Claudio Fernandes