mopc

No, the English translation above sounds contrived and unnatural. Let me try.



De tudo ao meu amor serei atento - Above all, I will be mindful of my love
Antes, e com tal zelo, e sempre, e tanto - and with such zeal, for ever and so much
Que mesmo em face do maior encanto - that even in face of the greatest enchantment
Dele se encante mais meu pensamento. - my thoughts be more enchanted by it

Quero vivê-lo em cada vão momento - I want to live it at every vain moment
E em seu louvor hei de espalhar meu canto - and in its praise I shall spread my chant
E rir meu riso e derramar meu pranto - and laugh my laughter and shed my tears
Ao seu pesar ou seu contentamento - to its bemoaning or to its content

E assim, quando mais tarde me procure - and thus later when I am sought
Quem sabe a morte, angústia de quem vive - maybe by death, anguish of the living
Quem sabe a solidão, fim de quem ama - maybe by loneliness, destiny of the loving

Eu possa me dizer do amor (que tive): - that I may say of the love (that I had)
Que não seja imortal, posto que é chama - that it be not immortal, for it is flame
Mas que seja infinito enquanto dure - but that it be infinite, while it lasts

Iskander

http://blogs.transparent.com/portuguese/asa-branca/

In 1947, amidst a devastating drought in the Brazilian Sertão, two men wrote a song that has become a national epic. Many people consider this work, Asa Branca to be much more than a song; it is a poem, an emotion, a history and a destiny.

Asa Branca refers to a bird, specifically the picazuro pigeon, whose white wings spread during flight, contrasting against the empty, blue sky of the desert. The melody of the song imitates the flying of the bird on its uncertain journey, swooping and lifting, not knowing if it will ever return home. This is real Brazilian saudade at its most intense.

Inté mesmo a asa branca (even the white wing)

Saudade (European Portuguese: [sɐwˈðaðɨ], Brazilian Portuguese: [sawˈdadi] or [sawˈdadʒi], Galician: [sawˈðaðe]; plural saudades)[1] is an unique Portuguese word that has no immediate translation in English.

Saudade describes a deep emotional state of nostalgic longing for an absent something or someone that one loves. It often carries a repressed knowledge that the object of longing will never return. It's related to the feelings of longing, yearning.[2] A stronger form of saudade may be felt towards people and things whose whereabouts are unknown, such as a lost lover, or a family member who has gone missing.


Saudade was once described as "the love that remains" after someone is gone

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudade

Iskander

Your translation is super! Thanks.

Horatio Parker

Not sure about the municipal band part, but there is an episode like that in Gabriel Garcia Marquez' "Love in the Time of Cholera".

Iskander

In the film I saw many years ago the husband played in some musical band in public parks and marching in formation in some street or another. I have said “municipal band” but this is only my interpretation.

In the film I saw, we were presented with alternating images of the husband plying music and the wife entertaining her lover.

In the film the husband kills her.


The lover writes 'solo meu' which is Portuguese, but it could have been a Brazilian film of a book in Spanish --Garcia Marquez wrote in Spanish.

Thank you .

mopc

No actually "solo" means "soil, ground" in portuguese, our word for "only" is "só", thus that phrase would have to be "só meu" (if the possessed object is masculine) or "só minha" (if feminine).

Iskander

Yes,

It might have been ‘solo mio’ which is Spanish for only mine or 'so meu'. It was a foreign film with subtitles.

Forget I have ever mentioned it. It is obvious to me that my recollection of the film is very confused.

I apologise to you and Horatio Parker and thank you both for your kind interest

mopc

There is a bit of mystification on the part of Portuguese speakers of the uniqueness of the word "saudade", it is a noun that expresses the feeling of missing something, that's it. Something or someone you had before and now not anymore, you miss it, you have "saudade" of it.

mopc

If you want to get a feeling of the range of Brazilian rhythms, take a look at this brutal Rio Carnival drumbeat:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOhWy...eature=related


And then the Brazilian singer Paula Toller performing one of the various pop-rock songs of the 80s and 90s that are just as Brazilian as anything else:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOhWy...eature=related

Many urban Brazilians outside the "African axis" of Rio and Salvador feel alienated from the excessively African beat of samba and other African rhythms, thus giving birth to Brazilian pop with mixes elements of Bossa Nova, samba and international pop and rock music, and is widely successful in Brazil though little known abroad. Unlike many reproductions of the pop-rock formula worldwide, Brazilians have managed to create high quality rhythms and lyrics fully adapted to Brazilian cultural reality and commercially successful throughout the nation. Paula Toller is just a small drop in that unexplored ocean of Brazilian pop-rock.

Other accomplished examples:

Marisa Monte - Bem que se quis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqPLePz9DjI


Legião Urbana - Índios
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSi88...eature=related

Legião Urbana - Eduardo e Mônica (full video clip created by a cell phone company)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-fCD...eature=related

Cazuza - O tempo não pára (perhaps my favorite composer of this style, lyricswise)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AkEQM9AdEY
Cazuza - Codinome beija-flor (best lyrics ever)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WszmK...eature=related


It's such a vast universe, it gives me the creeps that so many people worldwide lack access to it.

Iskander

Thanks!

I will keep them for tomorrow. It is quite late here, it is time to sleep.

I have enjoyed our conversation; it has been a pleasant and educative experience.

Goodnight