“The Flower and The Nausea” Loud at Rio Olympic Games

By Shu Shu

“The Flower and The Nausea” Loud at Rio Olympic Games

By Shu Shu

For many in China， hearing the poem cited at the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympic Games and learning what is really about was a big surprise. Many in China， a country of poetry， found it touching to hear a poem cited on such a grand occasion， a kind of homage paid to poetry and poets in general. It is also amazing to find how confident Brazil was to pick such a poem when the ceremony was opening the games. The last two lines read: “It's ugly. But it's a fower. It breached the asphalt， the ennui，the nausea and the hate.”

No matter how inappropriate the poem might have sounded at the first sight， an opening ceremony where a poem was recited must be great and the poem， though a bit convoluted， was full of energy.

The poem was written by the modernist writer Carlos Drummond de Andrade， probably the best known and most loved poet in Brazil. It was read in Portuguese by another Brazilian national treasure， the actress Fernanda Montenegro， with English provided by Britain's national star Judi Dench.

Most readers in China know almost nothing about Carlos Drummond de Andrade（1902-1987）. Only some who read the Portuguese and those who specialize in obscure knowledge would know that he was the most infuential poet of the 20th century Brazil and that he is a cultural icon of Brazil. In 1990， his portrait and poem Friendly Song were printed on the Brazilian 50 cruzados banknote. A life-size bronze statue of the poet sits on Copacabana beach in Rio.

The Flower and the Nausea was written in 1945 when Brazil suffered from despotism. The poem highlights his criticism， a straightforward expression from the city of god. His poems found echoes in the heart of people and he grew to be something of a national poet. Moreover， he broke new trails in writing poems， liberating poetry from standardized expressions and adopting a secular vocabulary to describe everyday life and sentiments. His poems broke away from the tower of ivory and reached broad strata of readers.

Some Chinese readers understand Rio Olympic Games by comparing Rio as that fower. The Rio Olympic Games in the media were so much saddled with issues such as pollution， Zika， security， funds， sporting venues that the world eyeballed Brazil with suspicion.

But the world is always full of problems. The Rio Olympic Games is the first ever held in the South America. There were disorder and even chaos， but they were not important. The world came together，that counts. The Olympic Games is always designed to bring mankind together. The opening ceremony was a huge success and the poem read at the ceremony bespoke the width of the spirit. Brazil didn't want to cover up its problems. It spoke about itself bravely to the politicians from all over the world and to international friends and visitors. In Brazil， Brazil isn't as important as its people. In Rio， the Olympic Games isn't as important as the everyday life of the people there. It isn't a perfect city and that is why God has things to do there and that is why such a poem made its guts way into the opening ceremony.