ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Billy Collins - Poet
A two-term U.S. Poet Laureate, Billy Collins captures readers with his understated wit, profound insight -- and a sense of being "hospitable."

Why you should listen

Accessibility is not a word often associated with great poetry. Yet Billy Collins has managed to create a legacy from what he calls being poetically “hospitable.” Preferring lyrical simplicity to abstruse intellectualism, Collins combines humility and depth of perception, undercutting light and digestible topics with dark and at times biting humor.

While Collins approaches his work with a healthy sense of self-deprecation, calling his poems “domestic” and “middle class,” John Taylor has said of Collins: “Rarely has anyone written poems that appear so transparent on the surface yet become so ambiguous, thought-provoking, or simply wise once the reader has peered into the depths.”

In 2001 he was named U.S. Poet Laureate, a title he kept until 2003. Collins lives in Somers, New York, and is an English professor at City University of New York, where he has taught for more than 40 years.

Credits for the animations in this talk:

"Budapest," "Forgetfulness" and "Some Days" -- animation by Julian Grey/Head Gear

"The Country" -- animation by Brady Baltezor/Radium

"The Dead" -- animation by Juan Delcan/Spontaneous
 

More profile about the speaker
Billy Collins | Speaker | TED.com
TED2014

Billy Collins: Two poems about what dogs think (probably)

Billy Collins: Dois Poemas sobre o que pensam os cachorros (provavelmente)

Filmed:
1,748,151 views

O que pensam nossos cachorros quando eles olham para a gente? O poeta Billy Collins imagina a vida interior de dois companheiros muito diferentes. É uma palestra curta, charmosa, perfeita para tirar um tempo e sonhar...
- Poet
A two-term U.S. Poet Laureate, Billy Collins captures readers with his understated wit, profound insight -- and a sense of being "hospitable." Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:13
I don't know if you've noticed,
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Não sei se notaram,
00:14
but there's been a spate of books
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mas há uma série de livros
00:16
that have come out lately
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publicados ultimamente
00:17
contemplating or speculating
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contemplando ou especulando
00:20
on the cognition and emotional life of dogs.
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a cognição e a vida emocional
dos cachorros.
00:24
Do they think, do they feel and, if so, how?
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Eles pensam, sentem e se sim, como?
00:27
So this afternoon, in my limited time,
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Então nesta tarde, no meu tempo limitado,
00:29
I wanted to take the guesswork out of a lot of that
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eu gostaria de eliminar muitas
das conjecturas a respeito disto
00:31
by introducing you to two dogs,
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introduzindo vocês a dois cachorros,
00:34
both of whom have taken the command "speak"
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os quais aceitaram o comando "fala"
00:39
quite literally.
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muito a sério.
00:43
The first dog is the first to go,
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O primeiro cachorro é o primeiro a ir,
00:46
and he is contemplating an aspect
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e ele está contemplando um aspecto
00:50
of his relationship to his owner,
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do seu relacionamento com seu dono
00:52
and the title is "A Dog on His Master."
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e o título é "Um Cão e seu Dono."
00:57
"As young as I look,
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"Por mais jovem que eu pareça,
00:59
I am growing older faster than he.
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envelheço mais rápido do que ele.
01:02
Seven to one is the ratio, they tend to say.
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Sete anos para um
é a proporção, assim dizem.
01:06
Whatever the number, I will pass him one day
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Qualquer que seja o número,
um dia vou passar à frente dele
01:09
and take the lead,
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e assumir a liderança,
01:11
the way I do on our walks in the woods,
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como faço em nossos passeios na floresta,
01:14
and if this ever manages to cross his mind,
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e se alguma vez isto passar
pela cabeça dele,
01:18
it would be the sweetest shadow
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seria a mais doce sombra
01:20
I have ever cast on snow or grass."
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que já projetei na neve ou na grama."
01:25
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
01:28
Thank you.
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Obrigado.
01:31
And our next dog
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E o nosso próximo cachorro
01:34
speaks in something called the revenant,
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fala de algo chamado aparição,
01:37
which means a spirit that comes back
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que significa um espírito que volta
01:39
to visit you.
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para te visitar.
01:43
"I am the dog you put to sleep,
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"Eu sou o cachorro que você sacrificou,
01:47
as you like to call the needle of oblivion,
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como você gosta de chamar
a agulha do esquecimento,
01:50
come back to tell you this simple thing:
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volto para te dizer uma coisa bem simples:
01:53
I never liked you."
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Eu nunca gostei de você."
01:55
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
01:57
"When I licked your face,
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"Quando eu lambia seu rosto,
01:59
I thought of biting off your nose.
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pensava em morder seu nariz.
02:02
When I watched you toweling yourself dry,
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Quando eu via você se enxugando,
02:05
I wanted to leap and unman you with a snap.
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eu queria pular
e te desmoralizar com uma mordida.
02:09
I resented the way you moved,
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Me ressentia o modo como você se movia,
02:11
your lack of animal grace,
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sem a graciosidade de um animal,
02:13
the way you would sit in a chair to eat,
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o jeito como se sentava
na cadeira e comia,
02:16
a napkin on your lap, a knife in your hand.
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um guardanapo no colo,
uma faca na mão.
02:20
I would have run away
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Eu teria fugido
02:22
but I was too weak,
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mas estava muito fraco,
02:23
a trick you taught me
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um truque você me ensinou
02:25
while I was learning to sit and heel
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quando eu aprendia a sentar
ou ficar de pé
02:28
and, greatest of insults,
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e, o maior insulto,
02:30
shake hands without a hand.
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dar aperto de mãos sem uma mão.
02:34
I admit the sight of the leash would excite me,
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Confesso que ao ver a coleira
eu ficava alegre,
02:38
but only because it meant I was about to smell things
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mas só porque eu poderia cheirar coisas
02:41
you had never touched.
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que você nunca iria tocar.
02:46
You do not want to believe this,
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Você não quer aceitar isto,
02:47
but I have no reason to lie:
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mas não tenho razões para mentir:
02:50
I hated the car, hated the rubber toys,
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Eu detestava o carro,
detestava os brinquedos de borracha,
02:54
disliked your friends, and worse, your relatives.
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não gostava dos seus amigos,
e muito menos dos seus parentes.
02:59
The jingling of my tags drove me mad.
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O barulho da placa da coleira
me deixava louco.
03:03
You always scratched me in the wrong place."
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Você sempre me coçava no lugar errado."
03:06
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
03:08
"All I ever wanted from you was food and water
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"Tudo que queria era comida e água
03:11
in my bowls.
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em minhas tigelas.
03:13
While you slept, I watched you breathe
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Enquanto você dormia,
eu reparava sua respiração
03:15
as the moon rose in the sky.
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enquanto a lua surgia no céu.
03:17
It took all of my strength
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Usei toda minha força de vontade
03:19
not to raise my head and howl.
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para não levantar a cabeça
e uivar.
03:22
Now, I am free of the collar,
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Agora estou livre da coleira,
03:24
free of the yellow raincoat,
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livre da capa amarela,
03:27
monogrammed sweater,
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do suéter com monograma,
03:29
the absurdity of your lawn,
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o absurdo do seu gramado,
03:32
and that is all you need to know about this place,
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e isto é tudo que precisa saber
sobre este lugar,
03:35
except what you already supposed
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exceto do que você já supôs
03:38
and are glad it did not happen sooner,
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e está feliz que isto não aconteceu antes,
03:40
that everyone here can read and write,
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que todos aqui
podem ler e escrever,
03:43
the dogs in poetry,
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os cães em poemas,
03:47
the cats and all the others
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os gatos e todos os demais
03:50
in prose."
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em prosa."
03:52
Thank you.
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Obrigado.
03:54
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
Translated by Nadja Nathan
Reviewed by Marcos Vinícius Petri

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Billy Collins - Poet
A two-term U.S. Poet Laureate, Billy Collins captures readers with his understated wit, profound insight -- and a sense of being "hospitable."

Why you should listen

Accessibility is not a word often associated with great poetry. Yet Billy Collins has managed to create a legacy from what he calls being poetically “hospitable.” Preferring lyrical simplicity to abstruse intellectualism, Collins combines humility and depth of perception, undercutting light and digestible topics with dark and at times biting humor.

While Collins approaches his work with a healthy sense of self-deprecation, calling his poems “domestic” and “middle class,” John Taylor has said of Collins: “Rarely has anyone written poems that appear so transparent on the surface yet become so ambiguous, thought-provoking, or simply wise once the reader has peered into the depths.”

In 2001 he was named U.S. Poet Laureate, a title he kept until 2003. Collins lives in Somers, New York, and is an English professor at City University of New York, where he has taught for more than 40 years.

Credits for the animations in this talk:

"Budapest," "Forgetfulness" and "Some Days" -- animation by Julian Grey/Head Gear

"The Country" -- animation by Brady Baltezor/Radium

"The Dead" -- animation by Juan Delcan/Spontaneous
 

More profile about the speaker
Billy Collins | Speaker | TED.com