The exchanged correspondence between Pessoa and Côrtes-Rodrigues at the end of 1914 and at the beginning of 1915 records a period of crisis whose motives, without relevant exceptions, have not been scrutinized. In the letter sent in January 19th, the most important of the whole series, that crisis, at least partially, is apparently solved. Employing a criterion of sincerity which, though difficult to grasp, will be operational in most of his full-grown work, Pessoa clearly detaches the work of his heteronyms, favouring it over the rest. The fact that Orpheu would be based upon much of what Pessoa, two months earlier, seemed willing to abandon requires thus some explanation. The explanation I propose in this essay comes along with a description of Pessoa’s work which tries to escape from the discomfort, both common and unnecessary, of having to appraise the best he ever made as well as that whose making, due to his own scruple, he came to deplore.
