God wills, man dreams, the work is born.
Genuine
Yes. In Message (1934), Second part, Mar Portuguez; poem I, “O Infante”, opening three lines (1934 edition, p. 51).
Found word for word by program in the Portuguese original.
The English is our own translation, not yet reviewed: there is no public-domain translation of this text in our sources.
- Work
- Message (Mensagem), 1934
- Where
- Second part, Mar Portuguez; poem I, “O Infante”, opening three lines (1934 edition, p. 51)
- Found at
- Paragraph 247 of the Portuguese text
- Translation
- Our own, not yet reviewed (no public-domain translation in our sources)
Researched by AI; checked by program against the full text on 31 October 2026. Editorial review: pending. How we check
On the page
POSSESSIO MARIS.
Deus quer, o homem sonha, a obra nasce.
Deus quiz que a terra fosse toda uma,
Que o mar unisse, já não separasse.
Sagrou-te, e foste desvendando a espuma,
E a orla branca foi de ilha em continente,
God wills, man dreams, the work is born. God willed that the earth should all be one, that the sea should unite and no longer divide.
The scene
The opening poem of Mensagem’s second part addresses the Infante, Prince Henry the Navigator. It imagines Portuguese ocean exploration as a divine intention joining the earth through the sea. The final stanza says that the maritime task was accomplished and the empire dissolved, but that Portugal has yet to fulfil itself.
What it means
The poem connects divine purpose, human imagination and completed action. Its particular example is a mythic interpretation of Portugal’s maritime enterprise.
Often misread
As a detached slogan for personal productivity it loses both the religious premise and the national history. The poem ends with an unfulfilled task, not an unqualified celebration of a lasting empire.
Topics
Related quotes
- Everything is worthwhile if the soul is not small.
- we are enquiring not merely that we may know what virtue is but that we may become virtuous Aristotle
- O salt sea, how much of your salt is the tears of Portugal!
- Happiness does not lie in happiness, but in the achievement of it. Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Loss is nothing else than change. Marcus Aurelius
Sources
Cite it
Fernando Pessoa, Message (1934), Second part, Mar Portuguez; poem I, “O Infante”, opening three lines (1934 edition, p. 51), our own translation. Checked at Quotogeny, https://quotogeny.com/q/god-wills-man-dreams-the-work-is-born/ (31 October 2026).
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Checked by people
People who checked this entry against its source, under their own names. Their checks do not change the verdict: an editor reviews every entry.
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