The Thrush

Abílio Manuel Guerra JunqueiroProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.5

Word count: 7.1K words
Chapters: 1

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.O Melro by Abílio Manuel Guerra JunqueiroAuthor: Junqueiro, Abílio Manuel Guerra, 1850-1923,Language: Portuguese, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Aug 25, 2007

Editor's review

O Melro is a work by the Portuguese poet Abílio Manuel Guerra Junqueiro, released free of charge as an eBook by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain resource. Junqueiro was an important voice in nineteenth-century Portuguese literature, and his poetry often carries a social conscience and a lyrical quality; this work works well as an introduction to Portuguese poetry in the original. The edition's outstanding value lies in its zero barrier to access: readers can download the electronic text directly for language study, auxiliary reading in literary history, or translation practice. Note that this is the original Portuguese version, and the Project Gutenberg edition provides only the basic text, without detailed notes or an introduction, so the reading experience depends on the reader's own language proficiency and background knowledge. It is better suited as a supplement for reference and research reading than as a leisure edition with fine binding and annotations. For learners studying Portuguese literature or comparing poetic language, it is a handy and practical electronic text.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Advanced learners of Portuguese who wish to encounter nineteenth-century poetry in the original
University students and researchers in Portuguese literary history who need primary texts
Translation enthusiasts doing Portuguese translation practice who are looking for short poetic material
Readers accustomed to public-domain eBooks who prefer free resources

Not a good fit for

General readers with no Portuguese who wish to read a Chinese translation
Beginners who need detailed notes, introductions, and background analysis
Collectors who prefer hardcover books with full editorial apparatus

Reading tips

Read through once to feel the rhythm and tone, then go back section by section with a dictionary for close reading, rather than getting stuck on unfamiliar words from the start.
Use histories of Portuguese literature to learn about the author's era, which helps in understanding the social conscience in the poems.
Read alongside an English or Chinese translation and compare how the poetic images are handled in different languages.
Use the eBook's search function to mark recurring images and trace the work's thematic threads.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a Chinese edition?

No. According to Project Gutenberg records, the book is in Portuguese and falls under Portuguese literature. Readers need some Portuguese reading ability, or should read with a dictionary or a translation at hand.

Does the Project Gutenberg edition have notes or an introduction?

Project Gutenberg mostly provides electronic texts of public-domain works, usually containing only the main text without detailed notes, introductions, or scholarly appendices. Deeper understanding requires readers to supply background materials themselves.

Is it suitable for learning Portuguese?

It can serve as advanced reading material. Poetic language is condensed and rich in rhetoric, which makes it difficult for beginners; once you have a foundation in grammar and vocabulary, you can better appreciate the beauty of the language and use it for close-reading practice.

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About the author

Abílio Manuel Guerra Junqueiro Author · Portuguese · 1850–1923

Abílio Manuel Guerra Junqueiro (1850–1923) was a Portuguese poet, journalist and politician. Born in Trás-os-Montes and a law graduate of the University of Coimbra, he was elected to parliament in 1878. He is best known for his satirical verse: The Death of João and The Old Age of the Eternal Father attacked Romanticism and the Church, while the long poem Fatherland stirred national feeling and earned him a reputation as the spirit poet of the 1910 republican revolution; he later served as minister to Switzerland. The library also holds Os Simples, O Melro and the children's stories Contos para a infância, showing a gentler side that embraces simple life, nature and childhood.