Sidónio Muralha, Matilde Rosa Araújo e Luísa Ducla Soares: Vozes emblemáticas da poesia portuguesa para a infância

Abstract

Among the consecrated writers of Portuguese literature for children, Sidónio Muralha, Matilde Rosa Araújo and Luísa Ducla Soares are names of reference. Sidónio is pointed among the pioneers of poetic production for childhood and
Matilde was the most recognized Portuguese poet for children in the second half of the twentieth century. For its part, Luísa Ducla Soares continues to publish, in our days, a work of unshakable quality.
The three authors have in common the fact that they write for both audiences: adults, and children and youth, entering different genres, including poetry. Initiating publications in different moments of the twentieth century (from the 1940s to the 1970s) and linked to different literary movements, they contributed (and, in the case of Luisa, she continues to contribute), undoubtedly, to the magnificence of Portuguese poetry for children.
In this article, I will try to demonstrate how, in children’s poetry, Sidónio Muralha, Matilde Rosa Araújo and Luísa Ducla Soares pursued themes that were dear to them, expressing emotions and values identical to those inscribed in the poetry they wrote for adult audiences, without neglecting their own style. In spite of these, they knew how to write the texts, in a superb way, according to the child reader.