desce os olhos pela estrada

English translation: drifts the / his eyes down the road

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Portuguese term or phrase:	desce os olhos pela estrada
English translation:	drifts the / his eyes down the road
Entered by:	Oliver Simões

00:32 Jan 10, 2019

Portuguese to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / Fernando Pessoa

Portuguese term or phrase: desce os olhos pela estrada

I wasn't sure how to translate this phrase. I've seen "lower one's gaze" or "dop one's gaze". Does either apply here?

Fernando Pessoa on Cesário Verde:

"Que pena que tenho dele! Ele era um camponês
Que andava preso em liberdade pela cidade.
Mas o modo como olhava para as casas,
E o modo como reparava nas ruas,
E a maneira como dava pelas coisas,
É o de quem olha para árvores,
E de quem desce os olhos pela estrada por onde vai andando
E anda a reparar nas flores que há pelos campos..."

Oliver Simões KudoZ activity Questions: 1105 (2 open) (3 without valid answers) (227 closed without grading) Answers: 3438 United States
Local time: 21:20

drifts the eyes down the road

Explanation:
desce os olhos pela estrada => drifts the eyes down the road

Selected response from:

airmailrpl
Brazil
Local time: 01:20

Grading comment

Thank you, airmailrpl. It worked like a charm.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +5

drifts the eyes down the road

airmailrpl

casts (their)/one's eyes/gaze down the road

Domini Lucas

Answers

26 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +5

drifts the eyes down the road

Explanation:
desce os olhos pela estrada => drifts the eyes down the road

airmailrpl
Brazil
Local time: 01:20
Meets criteria
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English,

Portuguese
PRO pts in category: 68

Grading comment

Thank you, airmailrpl. It worked like a charm.

23 hrs confidence:

casts (their)/one's eyes/gaze down the road

Explanation:
casts sounds more natural to me so submitting it as an option to think about.

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Note added at 1 day 1 hr (2019-01-11 01:56:15 GMT)
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Apologies for the parentheses. Hope they are not confusing. At first glance I would have written "casts their eyes down the road" but noted you have chosen "one's" and "gaze" so put both in as I haven't tried translating the whole poem.

Glances down the road also comes to mind, but it omits eyes and feels more transitory.

Domini Lucas
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:20
Meets criteria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thank you, Domini. The parentheses are not confusing at all. I'll keep your suggestion in mind for another context, which refers to "lançar um olhar", for which "cast a gaze" sounds perfect. For this one, I'll pick the competing answer.

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desce os olhos pela estrada

English translation: drifts the / his eyes down the road

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desce os olhos pela estrada

English translation: drifts the / his eyes down the road

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