Birthday wishes

“Aniverário” by Álvaro de Campos

Back when they celebrated my birthday,
I was happy and nobody was dead.
In the old house, my birthday had already been a tradition for centuries,
And everyone’s happiness, and mine, was as certain as any religion.

Back when they celebrated my birthday,
I had enough health to not realize anything at all,
To be intelligent within my family,
And to not have the hopes that others had for me.
When I started having hopes, I no longer knew how to have hope.
When I came to look at life, I had lost the sense of life.

Dated October 15, 1929. This is just the beginning of the poem. There’s more.