Cobra Norato, written in 1928 and first published in 1931, is considered not only Raul Bopp’s masterpiece, but also one of the most important literary works of Brazilian modernism. In this long poem, Bopp develops a dramatic epic with fairy-tale–like episodes and sequences.

The work describes the adventures of a young man in the Amazon jungle who strangles a large black snake and enters its body to travel through the jungle to the Amazonian city Belém do Pará, in search of a queen’s daughter whom he wishes to marry. In many ways, the poem is a love story, but the value of the poem lies in Bopp’s skillful use of the Amazonian geographical background to capture and focus on indigenous myths, cultural practices, and rituals in that region of Brazil.

Using the folklore of the region, Bopp creates, through striking metaphors and unexpected imaginative images, a text that uncovers and rediscovers elements of Brazilian national identity embedded in indigenous myths.

Bopp was not a native of the Brazilian Amazon region, but he spent many years there during his political exile during the 1920s. That period deeply influenced his artistry and themes as a poet. In that regard, Black Snake is also a manifestation of the poet’s belief in the need to preserve the natural and ecological integrity of Amazonia.

Using the mythical past and referencing the “primitive,” Bopp plunges the reader into thinking about “modern” Brazilian and universal concerns. The mythical and symbolic journey—through the dense Amazon—of the poem’s protagonist is fraught with complications and solutions. The dilemma of the protagonist is the same one that human beings have endured in all times and spaces. Black Snake remains one of Brazil’s most important works for its enduring universal message. Bopp’s creative and ingenious use of poetic language also added to the definitive literary importance of this work.

Bibliography
Bopp, Raul. “Black Snake.” Twentieth-Century Latin American Poetry: A Bilingual Anthology, edited by Stephen Tapscott, pp. 133–137. University of Texas Press, 1996.

Categories: British Literature, Latin American Literature, Literature

Tags: Amazonian myths in poetry, Black Snake character study, Black Snake criticism, Black Snake epic poem, Black Snake indigenous culture, Black Snake interpretation, Black Snake myth criticism, Black Snake plot, Black Snake Raul Bopp analysis, Black Snake summary, Black Snake symbolism, Black Snake themes, Brazilian modernism literature, Brazilian national identity literature, Cobra Norato poem analysis, ecological themes in Brazilian poetry, Raul Bopp biography, Raul Bopp literary style, Raul Bopp modernist poetry, Raul Bopp poetry analysis