Archived translations from Galician to English of poems by Rosalía de Castro

A Few Words About Rosalía de Castro

The poetry of De Castro's Galician volumes—"Cantares Gallegos" (1863) and "Follas Novas" (1880)—at times poignant, others assertive, affirms the fullness of the feminine personality and champions the overlooked plight of the disadvantaged, the emigrant, the widow and the orphan. Her 1884 volume of Spanish poetry entitled, "En las orillas del Sar," is a brooding reflection on the immanent tragedy of living, a discourse reminiscent of existential pessimism.

In the year 1947 the Fundación Rosalía de Castro (Rosalía de Castro Foundation) was born with the express goal of purchasing De Castro's last residence and of perpetuating her memory and literary legacy. The arduous task of acquiring the house where she last dwelled dragged on until 1971, but at length, on July 15, 1972, the rehabilitated house opened to the public refurbished as a house-museum.

In July 1951 the Rosalía de Castro Foundation organized a "literary pilgrimage" in her honour. An amateur enthusiast recorded the singular event and his film is reproduced below (min. 8:38-27:34). The extraordinary footage recorded the presence of Gala Murguía de Castro between min. 20:52 and 21:16, and from min. 24:31 to 25:02, and it also recorded the aspect of several places mentioned in her mother's poetry.

By organizing that literary pilgrimage and other events of a similar nature the Rosalía de Castro Foundation helped to preserve Galicia's cultural and national identity in what was socially and politically a hostile environment, for it was not until July 25, 1965, that Franco's regime condoned the sole use of the Galician language in a public ceremony. This was the votive Catholic mass for De Castro,

The city of Santiago de Compostela quintessence of the Galician territory is an administrative, cultural and religious capital; in days of yore it was usual to dub her, "Santiago de Galicia." The city's patron saint is also Spain's and as a result the holiday combines the sacred with the profane. The date of the official state offering to St. James [July 25] coincides with the date of the most important country fair in the Autonomous Community and with the celebration of its Day of the Emigrant. Furthermore July 25 is also "Galicia Day," festivity established in 1920 by Galician nationalists, many of whom were devout Catholics who made this date their rallying banner; and it was at Santiago de Compostela on July 25, 1965, that Jesuit father Xaime Seixas officiated the first Catholic mass spoken exclusively in the Galician language in memory of Rosalía de Castro.

(Ramón Blanco. "'Gaudeamus, Exultemus' y 'Ultreia.'" ABC D Las Artes y Las Letras, 913, 25 July 2009)

Although the bitter division persists that De Castro triggered in Galician society by her rebellious, loving use of the native language, the resilience of her reputation together with the affection lavished on her memory by many at home and abroad portends that in a not too distant future she will cease to be a "foreigner in her homeland" (the title of a recent book about De Castro written by Francisco Rodríguez Sánchez).

Portugal and Rosalía de Castro

On Wednesday August 4, 1954, Porto the capital of Northern Portugal unveiled a marble statue of De Castro in this public square.

The podium in Porto's Praça da Galiza on August 4, 1954

Source: Arquivo Municipal do Porto: Homenagem a Rosália de Castro

In attendance were among other distinguished authorities José Machado Vaz the president of Porto's City Hall, the commander of Portugal's 1st Military Region, the prelate of Porto bishopric, the dean of Porto University and three Galician mayors. Gala, then 82 years old, unveiled the statue. Portuguese lawyer, writer and alderman Manuel de Figueiredo addressed the gathering and said that De Castro was one of the most beautiful and lyrical figures of Spanish literature. After him the Portuguese writers Aurora Jardim, Ludovica Frías de Matos and the Brazilian-born Zita Leão each laid a wreath at the foot of the monument.

José Machado Vaz places a bouquet at the foot of the statue

Source: Arquivo Municipal do Porto: Homenagem a Rosália de Castro

Spanish writer Eugenio Montes lectured to a packed house later that day in the Literature/Music Room of Porto's Municipal Public Library. His dissertation entitled, "Rosalía de Castro, Star In the West," raised an enthusiastic round of applause. He said later that this had been the most moving conference of his entire life.

The audience in the Literature/Music Room

Source: Arquivo Municipal do Porto: Homenagem a Rosália de Castro

The day of celebration finished with a gala dinner hosted by City Hall.

The evening banquet

Source: Arquivo Municipal do Porto: Homenagem a Rosália de Castro

The following year the Gabinete De História Da Cidade Do Porto published a 48-page booklet entitled, "Homenagem a Rosália de Castro, agosto de 1954," with the text of the various speeches given and with the photographs taken during the 1954 event. According to the newspaper La Voz de Galicia of Sunday February 27, 1955, a simple but "impressive" ceremony was held in Porto to mark the occasion. Under a steady drizzle the Galician chorale Follas Novas sang De Castro's archetypal poem, "Negra Sombra" (see poem 10).

On Saturday June 4, 1955, illustrious writer Maria da Graça Freire pronounced a conference entitled, "Evocação de Rosalia de Castro," in the Noble Room of Porto's Museu Nacional de Soares dos Reis. A massive audience of men of letters, artists and dignitaries heard her eulogize De Castro with these moving words: "The spirit of Rosalía and the spirit of her people are inseparable." The lecture was interrupted several times by hearty applause. María M. Couto Viana recited some of De Castro's verses and she like the main speaker enjoyed a great success at the event.

Joaquín Rodrigo and Rosalía de Castro

Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999) the Valencian composer and virtuoso pianist whose most famous pieces are Concierto De Aranjuez and Fantasía Para Un Gentilhombre composed a classical score for soprano and orchestra entitled, "Rosaliana," which sets to music four excerpts of De Castro's poetry. One is presented next.

Cantarte Hei, Galicia

Federico García Lorca and Rosalía de Castro

Federico García Lorca (1898-1936) travelled to Galicia at least three times: in 1916 to Santiago de Compostela with fellow undergraduates and twice in 1932 when he with other members of an "Intellectual Cooperation Committee" laid a bouquet at the foot of the monument to De Castro in that city.^1,2 The visits inspired him to write "Salutación elegíaca a Rosalía de Castro" in 1919,

Elegiac Greeting for Rosalía de Castro (Salutación Elegíaca a Rosalía de Castro)

Amancio Prada

He also wrote six Galician poems between 1932 and 1933, which he acceded to publish in 1935 at the insistence of a friend. Their translated titles³ are:

1. Madrigal to the City of Santiago


2. Festive Pilgrimage in Honour of Our Lady of the Barge (see poem 7)


3. Song of the Shopkeeper Boy


4. Nocturne of the Dead Adolescent


5. Lullaby for Dead Rosalía Castro (this full poem is translated next)


6. Dance of the Moon in Santiago

Lullaby for Dead Rosalía Castro (Canzón de cuna pra Rosalía Castro, morta)

(Seis poemas gallegos, 1935)

Rafa Lorenzo from the 2007 album Primos Hermanos

Ramón Cabanillas and Rosalía de Castro

Ramón Cabanillas Enríquez (1876-1959) was born in Cambados (Pontevedra). Poet, playwright, journalist, clerk, secretary, accountant, he managed the Centro Gallego De La Habana during his stay in the Caribbean island between 1910 and 1915. A moderate Galician-nationalist, he wrote the anthem of Acción Gallega, spearhead of the Galician agrarian movement which proclaimed the right of peasants to own the land they tilled. He ran for but failed to win a seat in the Constituent Assembly of the Second Spanish Republic (1931). In April 1958 his many admirers crowned him, "Poet of the Race," in Padrón (radio recording of the event). Cabanillas broadcast his epitaph, "I wish to have inscribed on the sepulchre that grants me rest this one word that has light, Galician, and this other word that has wings, Poet." Three of his poems became popular songs; their translated titles are: Rise Up!, Brother Daniel, and Poor Madwoman.

He was a fervent admirer of De Castro and paid her repeated homage.

To Rosalía de Castro (A Rosalía de Castro)

(Da Terra Asoballada, 1917)

Juan Pardo from the 1976 album Galicia, Miña Nai dos Dous Mares

José Martínez Ruíz alias Azorín and Rosalía de Castro

José Martínez Ruíz alias Azorín (1873-1967) the Alicantine journalist, playwright, poet and writer was the prime example of that group of Spanish authors nicknamed "the generation of 1898." His style was terse, concise, full of short sentences, far removed from the traditional grandiloquence of Spanish prose. His contemporaries tagged him a master of the language. He entered politics and was appointed Undersecretary of Public Education twice. The Royal Spanish Academy inducted him on October 26, 1924.

Azorín paid homage to De Castro in an article written for the conservative newspaper ABC,

Rosalía has a lively, clear bearing and an expression of indefinite, sweet sorrow. She has sung of her country's scenery—so beautiful—and has seen pass by her door, "when the north wind blows hard and the fire burns in the hearth," the unending caravan of farmers who abandon their native land and go looking for the sea to travel to faraway places; the "gaunt, naked and hungry" farmers who leave the poet "distressed and saddened, as comfortless as they" ("How much they must suffer here, O homeland! If presently your sons depart without sorrow!"). Rosalía has crossed in swift journey the desolate and scorched Mancha; she has toured plentiful Extremadura; she has stared at the fine and clear landscapes of Alicante; she has let her eyes rove through the orchards of Murcia. All this has its beauty and charm but the poet glances backward—with so much love!—to her beloved Galicia. "The ground covered with dear grasses and flowers all year long, the hills full of pines, oaks and willows, the brisk winds that blow, the fountains and cascades pouring forth frothing and crystalline summer and winter over smiling fields or in deep, shaded hollows...Galicia is a garden always where one inhales pure aromas, cool air and poetry."

She was born on February 21, 1837; she died on July 15, 1885. Her last sigh was reserved for the open sea; the vision of the unceasing surf and of the infinite horizon was her last vision. "When I saw her confined between the four boards which await us all," her companion has written, "I exclaimed: Rest at last, poor tormented spirit, you who have suffered so much in this world!"

Rosalía: You have not died; your image lives on in our hearts, we who love the pure, delicate lyric and detest the bombast of officialdom and the evils that cause the good to leave the Motherland. Rosalía: One can read on your kind, sad face, as you have said in one of your poems, the vague promptings, the secret endearments...

(Azorín. "Rosalía de Castro." ABC 8 Jan 1914: 3-4, Leyendo a los poetas)

Miguel de Unamuno and Rosalía de Castro

Miguel de Unamuno (1864-1936) the Basque poet, novelist and playwright was an ardent Spanish-nationalist intellectual who did not admit of a better vehicle for the loftier poetic expression than the Castilian language (September 18, 1931, address to the Spanish Congress). Nevertheless he contributed to the dissemination of De Castro's literary stature. The main criticism he levelled against hers and Galician poetry in general was its proclivity to lament, sentiment for which he saw no justification.

The following excerpt is from his essay, "Spanish wanderings and perceptions,"

That very sea which takes refuge there, in the southern firths of Galicia, between green arms of the country, is it not inspecting them for something it lost, or possibly as a means of forgetting its nagging woes? There, cuddled beside its eternal spouse, it slumbers and perchance it dreams. And perhaps it longs to be a river once more, a humble stream, a secluded creek. Who knows! Maybe the broad Bay of Arousa dreams about the [river] Ulla that renders its waters, or about the unfortunate [river] Sar sung by Rosalía. And all that is thirst—the sea is thirsty, it thirsts for the fresh water of the streams which flows down from the summits—an unquenchable thirst, a thirst that made Rosalía say: "O land, fertile and beautiful yesteryear, today and forever! / Seeing how sadly there shines our ill-fated star / From the banks of the Sar, / As I near the end I feel the consuming thirst, / Never allayed, that drowns all feeling, / And the hunger for justice that fells and crushes / When our complaints are snapped away / By the wind of a mad tempest."

(Miguel de Unamuno. "Junto a las Rías Bajas de Galicia." Andanzas y Visiones Españolas)

Manuel Curros Enríquez and Rosalía de Castro

Manuel Curros Enríquez (1851-1908) was born in Celanova (Ourense). Runaway teenager, Madrid City Hall clerk, journalist, war correspondent (wounded), failed student of Law, bohemian, Mason, Republican, scourge of the Roman Catholic Church (excommunicated), director of a failed newspaper in Cuba—his was an eventful life. A renowned writer and poet, sometimes satirical, others sentimental, he like De Castro wrote in Galician and in Spanish. Some of his poems became popular songs; their translated titles are: Once Upon a Night in the Wheat Fields, The Month of May, How Did It Happen? and Those Eyes of Yours.

On May 25, 1891, the mortal remains of Rosalía de Castro were exhumed and carried in solemn procession from Padrón to Santiago de Compostela. The funereal train arrived in Santiago at 6:00 PM sharp. Two long rows of candle-bearing children and the orphéons of Galicia with their ensigns preceded the hearse which was adorned with ribbons, flanked by City Hall officials and by representatives of the Galician community in Cuba. There followed the hearse business organizations, political associations, writers, professors and teachers, a second car and the city's fire truck trailed by a multitude of students, newspapermen, bureaucrats, presidents of financial, legal, educational and business institutions, the dean of the university, construction workers and ordinary citizens.¹ Manuel Curros Enríquez delivered an eloquent eulogy while the cortege paused at the entrance to the university. There he recited his poem, A Rosalía (To Rosalía).

To Rosalía (A Rosalía)
(1891)

	Adriano Correia de Oliveira from the 1971 album Gente de Aqui e de Agora
	Luis Emilio Batallán from the 1975 album Ahí Ven o Maio
	Chingla from the 2023 album Cantarche ei Galicia
	2NaFronteira
	Camerata Vivace

Source: Todo Colección

1.   A Maiden's Prayer     (San Antonio bendito)

(Cantares Gallegos, 1863)

Translator's Notes

"San Antonio bendito" like most poems of Cantares Gallegos employs the affectionate diminutive form peculiar to the Galician language—singular termination iña (feminine) or iño (masculine). Not every word that ends in iña or iño is an affectionate diminutive however.

All the words in "San Antonio bendito" that end in iña or iño are listed below together with a range of possible translations and a short explanation of the choice that was made. Galician affectionate diminutives lend the translator an opportunity to add alliteration, internal rhyme and lyrical sharpness to the text. The objective is to find the best adjective, adverb or noun which conveys smallness, frailty, concern or affection depending on the context. This objective ends in a personal choice when more than one translation is available as is often the case. Sometimes an affectionate diminutive is best ignored because the context is unclear, because the extra term jars the smooth flow of the translation or because it makes the text too syrupy. The exercise can be fun, difficult and challenging. The extra work is worthwhile because it offers the English reader an approximation to what De Castro called "those tender words and those idioms never forgotten which sounded so sweet to my ears since the cradle and which were gathered up by my heart as its own heritage."

• amoriños. Dim. and pl. of "amor" (love) translated simply "love" to preserve the tempo of stanza 7.
• carniñas. Dim. of "carnes" (fat, flesh) translated "smooth flesh" to concur with the description of its being like cream. Other options: attractive, sleek, soft.
• corpiño. Dim. of "corpo" (body, frame) translated "frail...frame" to create staggered alliteration and approximate rhyme with "saint" (4.2). A frail body is consistent with the maiden's desire to wed a man who will do the heavy chores for her.
• hirmanciño. Dim. of "hirman" (brother) translated "baby brother" to fit the description, "who has teeth already" (8.9).
• homiño. Dim. of "home" (man) translated "greenhorn." Other options: cream puff, pushover, two-bit man, weakling, wimp. This is a rare instance where the diminutive is more derogatory than affectionate.
• lanzaliño. Dim. of "lanzal" (slender, slim, svelte) translated "spare" to resonate with the phrase "red and ruddy" (6.4). The affectionate diminutive component was ignored to maintain the tempo of the stanza.
• santiño. Dim. of "santo" (saint) translated "cherished saint."
• vaquiña. Dim. of "vaca" (cow) translated "dear...cow."

Explanation of some words, terms or expressions

Saint Anthony (title). Reputed to be a matchmaker in Portuguese and Brazilian tradition.

troncho que troncho (4.7). A troncho is the stalk of a garden vegetable like cabbage, but colloquially it can also denote derision or exhaustion. Walking-stick kale can grow as tall as a person. It was traditionally used for making walking sticks. Hence this cabbage can be a pun and a metaphor for muscle stiffness, fatigue and trudging or clumping along.

Virxe do Carme (5.2). The Spanish religious icon known as Our Lady of Mount Carmel, patron saint of sailors.

Musical Adaptation

This poem was arranged by composer Joaquín Rodrigo in 1951. The piece is performed below by singer Laura Alonso Padín and musician Cristina Pato at the piano.

Laura Alonso Padín and Cristina Pato

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Source: Amaianos' photostream. flickr

2.   Bells of Bastabales     (Campanas de Bastabales)

(Cantares Gallegos, 1863)

Spelling Note

Another acceptable way of spelling Bastabales is Bastavales; the name derives from the Latin "vasta vallis" meaning "vast valley."

Typographical Error in the Original

Original line 1.5.1 reads, "Non me roubaron, traidores," which makes stanzas 1.5-1.6 say, "Treacherous loves sweetly mad alas! / Sweetly mad loves alas! / Did not abduct me. / For love has fled / And loneliness arrived... / Consuming me with grief." The statement is incongruous and begs the question, "Then who abducted the protagonist?" Changing one crucial vowel in line 1.5.1. clears up the confusion. What De Castro wrote in fact was: "Non me roubaran, traidores," and the typesetter mistook the highlighted "a" for an "o" and the error is understandable because this video demonstrates that De Castro's caligraphy sometimes produced a's that look like o's when joined to a consonant.

Historical Background

De Castro was the illegitimate daughter of Father José Martínez Viojo and of María Teresa da Cruz de Castro e Abadía. He was born in 1798 in the hamlet of Ortoño and he died at the age of seventy-three in Iria Flavia. She was born in 1804 at Iria Flavia, 2 kilometers away from Padrón, and she died at the age of fifty-seven in Santiago de Compostela.¹ Father Viojo and María Teresa kept seeing each other after Rosalia's birth.

The bells of Bastavales are audible in Ortoño, 3 kilometers away, but they can not be heard in Padrón (12 kilometers away) or in Santiago de Compostela (16 kilometers away). Hence De Castro must have lived in Ortoño long enough to retain a conscious remembrance of the bells. It is certain that she was cared for there until the age of four. Then she was sent to live with her mother and go to school in Padrón. This poem certifies that she returned to Ortoño during the summer holidays. Furthermore her frequent allusions to the river Sar testify that the child had a wonderful time playing on its banks. In addition Viojo`s relatives hailed from Bastavales, guaranteeing that the child went along on family visits there. Indeed the conviction persists among some neighbours of Bastavales that De Castro eventually took up residence in the neighbourhood (source: xensboy, uploader of a Youtube video entitled, "The ringing bells of Bastavales in the summer of 2010," since removed).

The following excerpt of a letter written by Luis Tobío in 1923 affirms that De Castro was acquainted with her father,

When my aunt was 19 years old, in the spring of 1859, she returned from school at noon and went as usual into the house where she lived with her uncle, and she bumped into Rosalía chatting with her father in the living room. She retired prudently—this was the first time that she had seen her cousin. She told me that her first impression [of De Castro] was that of a good-enough girl, neither very pretty nor homely, tall and charming.²

Tobío's letter elucidates many things. For example the line, "mill in the chestnut forest," of poem 4, "Adiós rios, adios fontes," tabs the watermill owned by Viojo's family. The letter portrays Rosalía's father as a "tall, swarthy, plump, ironic and engaging" man and it discloses that María Teresa had intended to abandon De Castro in a baby-drop-off facility run by the church, but that the father intervened and sent the newborn to Ortoño instead, first under the care of a tailor, and subsequently into the care of his own family.

To plot the trip taken by the protagonist of this poem, "Campanas de Bastabales," the reader must concede the premise that "yonder" (1.4.2-3) is Ortoño or more generally the valley known as Val da Mahía which encompasses both Ortoño and Bastavales. The protagonist no longer dwells there and she must cross hillocks to reach the valley (2.1.2). Where does she dwell now? Section V provides the important clue that clouds rush toward her house (5.1.2-3). The usual direction of strong winds accompanied by cloudy weather in Val da Mahía is southwesterly or westerly. Therefore her home must lie east of Bastavales, be within walking distance and beyond a range of hills. Santiago de Compostela is the only one of De Castro's known addresses that fits. Thus it is posited that the poem depicts a journey from Santiago de Compostela to Bastavales.

"Campanas de Bastabales" has this background script. Section I voices De Castro's regret at having left Bastavales lured by her "treacherous, sweetly mad love" for Manuel Murguía. The couple married in Madrid in 1858 and settled down in Santiago de Compostela the following year.³ Section II starts her real or imaginary walk from the city to her beloved hamlet. In sections III and IV she exults as she strolls toward Bastavales. Surprisingly she does not reach her destination: nightfall finds her seated on a small boulder by the trail, a cue that the trip is in fact a poetic escapade. Section V reflects her anguish at having been left alone in Santiago de Compostela. Her neighbours there are uncaring ("without a friend") her husband is away ("for whom I live pining") and her mother is dead ("everyone has departed").⁴ Under this script the Ave María of the last two stanzas is rung by the bells of St. James' Cathedral.

The peculiar dashed line set near the poem's close may signal the excision of lines that are too revealing.

Translator's Notes

"Campanas de Bastabales" as do most poems of "Cantares Gallegos" makes extensive use of the affectionate diminutive form peculiar to the Galician language—singular termination iña (feminine) or iño (masculine). Notice that not every word that ends in iña or iño is an affectionate diminutive.

All the words in "Campanas de Bastabales" that end in iña or iño are listed below together with a range of possible translations and a short explanation of the choice that was made. Galician affectionate diminutives lend the translator an opportunity to add alliteration, internal rhyme and lyrical sharpness to the text. The objective is to find the best adjective, adverb or noun which conveys small size, frailty, concern or endearment depending on the context. This objective ends in a personal choice when more than one translation is available as is often the case. Sometimes an affectionate diminutive is best ignored because the context is unclear, because the extra term jars the smooth flow of the translation or because it makes the text too syrupy. The exercise can be fun, difficult and challenging. The extra work is worthwhile because it offers the English reader an approximation to what De Castro called "those tender words and those idioms never forgotten which sounded so sweet to my ears since the cradle and which were gathered up by my heart as its own heritage."

• airiños. Dim. of "aires" (breezes, winds) translated "kind breezes" to personify the comfort they bring to the protagonist. Other options: caring breezes, light winds.
• camiño (path, route, trail, way). Not a diminutive.
• campaniñas. Dim. and pl. of "campana" (bell) translated "dear bells." Other options: beloved bells, cherished bells, darling bells, precious bells, wonderful bells.
• casiñas. Dim. and pl. of "casa" (house) translated "small houses." The affectionate option, "little houses," is not appropriate because the neighbours are uncaring, she is left "without company or friend" (5.2.3).
• fontiñas. Dim. and pl. of "fonte" (fountain) translated "dear fountains." Other options: good fountains, little fountains, popular springs, refreshing fountains. A typical "fountain" of the Galician countryside consisted of a pipe incrusted in rock to serve as a spout for human consumption and a sink underneath to serve as a watering hole for the cattle (illustration).
• lixeiriña. Dim. of "lixeira" (brisk, fast, nimble) translated "fleet-footed" to anticipate the comparison to a she-goat made on the next line of the poem.
• mañanciña (early morning hours). Not an affectionate diminutive.
• paseniño (leisurely). Not an affectionate diminutive.
• paxariños. Dim. and pl. of "paxaro" (bird) translated "little...birds." The phrase connotes size and affection.
• paxariños. Dim. and pl. of "paxaro" (bird) translated "little...birds." The phrase connotes size and affection.
• pedriña. Dim. of "pedra" (boulder, rock, stone) translated "small boulder." Ambiguous. It could also refer to a capstone on a stonewall marking out the boundaries of a small plot of land; these stonewalls were ubiquitous in the Galician countryside.
• tiña (past tense of "ter," to have). Not a diminutive.
• toliños. Dim. and pl. of "tolo" (crazy, disturbed, mad) translated "sweetly mad." Other options: blissfully naive, delightfully droll, innocently foolish, laughably ludicrous, pitiably insane.

Explanation of some words, terms or expressions

Soidades (refrain, line 3). The best translation may be "to have the blues." Soidá, saudade is dejection triggered by solitude, separation or frustration. At the beginning of the poem "soidades" bespeaks her longing to see Bastavales, at the close her loneliness.

as laradas das casiñas (5.3.2). It was customary to kindle a small blaze (larada) by the gate of a house to protect the place from evil spirits or natural dangers.¹

The call of the Ave María (5.3.6). That is the Angelus which was rung three times a day: 6:00 AM, noon and 6:00 PM.

Musical Adaptation

Troubadour and songwriter Amancio Prada arranged sections I and III of the poem. The audio of the first entry is from his 1997 album, "Rosas a Rosalía." Casablanca Choir and separately Mary C. Otero Rolle cover Prada on the next two entries. The audio of the fourth entry is from Prada's 1991 album, "Trovadores, Místicos y Románticos." Soprano María Orán offers an operatic interpretation of section I last.

	Amancio Prada, María del Mar Bonet and the Galicia Symphony Orchestra. This song recites section I
	Casablanca Choir
	Mary C. Otero Rolle
	Amancio Prada. This song recites section III
	María Orán and the Extremadura Symphony Orchestra render section I as a cantata

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Source: Todo Colección

3.   Black Carnation     (Quíxente tanto, meniña)

(Cantares Gallegos, 1863)

Translator's Notes

"Quíxente tanto, meniña" contains the four affectionate diminutives listed below. Galician affectionate diminutives bring the opportunity to add alliteration, internal rhyme and lyrical sharpness to the text. The task for the translator is to discover the best adjective, adverb or noun which conveys smallness, frailty, concern or affection depending on the context.

• alentiño. Dim. of "alento" (breath, breathing) translated: "cherished breath." Other options: easy breath, gentle breath, precious breath, soft breath, vital breath.
• camiñiño. Dim. of "camiño" (path, route, trail, way) translated "lovely way" to get staggered alliteration with "Saint Louis." Other options: country lane, narrow path, short trail.
• caraveliño. Dim. of "caravel" (carnation) translated "fair carnation." The affectionate diminutive is toned down deliberately because the same carnation is cursed three lines farther down, "Damned black carnation." Consequently embellishments such as "colourful carnation" or "beautiful carnation" which are fine elsewhere seem to me to be incongruous or inappropriate for this poem.
• meniña (girl, lass). Not an affectionate diminutive.

Explanation of some words, terms or expressions

On the lovely way to San Lois (2.2). Today San Lois is part of Pontecesures, a town of 3,136 inhabitants (2011) situated 3.4 kilometers south of Padrón beside the river Ulla. The economic mainstays of Pontecesures and the surrounding region are dairy farming and sea lamprey fishing.

Yet when the river I crossed (3.7). The river Ulla.

Musical Adaptation

Raquel Pato composed a short piano piece for this poem (Ms. Pato is Head of the Music Department at IES As Lagoas in Ourense). Her composition was recorded by singer Rosa Cedrón and musician Cristina Pato in the 2010 album, "Soas."

Rosa Cedrón and Cristina Pato on Galician TV (2010)

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Source: Os Adeuses. Photographs of Galician emigration by Alberto Martí.
Mediateca: Consello da Cultura Galega

4.   Good-Bye Rivers, Good-Bye Fountains     (Adiós ríos, adios fontes)

(Cantares Gallegos, 1863)

Theme

"Good-bye rivers, good-bye fountains" recounts the drama of those forced to emigrate by the crisis of 1850-1860.

Historical Background

"Good-bye rivers, good-bye fountains" recounts the drama of those forced to emigrate by the crisis of 1850-1860. Apparently due to the unusually cold winters of the decade 1850-1860 and due to the prevalence of subsistence agriculture many family farms of Galicia went bankrupt. To compound the problem the domestic textile industry also spiralled into crisis.

In December 1836 the first commercial ad appeared offering transatlantic passage aboard the General Laborde from A Coruña to Montevideo/Buenos Aires. Transatlantic voyages increased steadily. Most were made on sailing ships. Somewhat reliable data suggest that 93,040 Galicians departed between 1836 and 1860. The Spanish government legalized emigration in 1853, and this made the count reliable: 122,875 people abandoned Galicia between the years 1860 and 1880.

(André Solla. "A emigración galega a América")

The volume of emigration over the period 1836-1880 was staggering. The Galician census of 1857 gave a count of 1,776,879 people. Hence about 12% of the people emigrated.

Translator's Notes

This sentimental poem makes use of the affectionate diminutive form peculiar to the Galician language profusely. The affectionate diminutive has the singular termination iña (feminine) or iño (masculine). However not every word that ends in iña or iño is an affectionate diminutive.

All the words in "Adiós rios, adios fontes" that end in iña or iño are listed below together with an explanation of the translation made where needed. Galician affectionate diminutives offer the translator an opportunity to add alliteration, internal rhyme and lyrical sharpness to the text. Usually there is no one rigorous translation of an affectionate diminutive; consequently the goal is to select the best adjective, adverb or noun which conveys smallness, frailty, concern or affection, depending on the context, and which simultaneously embellishes the poem in the translator's eyes.

• amoriñas. Dim. and pl. of "amora" (berry, blackberry). Although the appropriate translation would be "sweet blackberries," expressing affection and tagging the flavour of ripe blackberries, the diminutive was laid aside to limit the line length to seven syllables and thus preserve the tempo and flow of the poem (2.13).
• arboriños. Dim. and pl. of "arbore" (tree) translated "dear trees."
• beiriña do mar. Dim. of "beira do mar" (coastline, seashore) translated "precious coastline" conveying deep affection for the land which the protagonist now embarked is set to abandon (11.4).
• camiña. Third person singular present tense of the verb "camiñar" (5.4). Not a diminutive.
• caminiños. Dim. and pl. of "camino" (path, route, trail, way) translated "narrow footpaths," an accurate description of the space between rows of planted corn. "Camino" and "camiño" are synonymous.
• campaniñas. Dim. and pl. of "campana" (bell) translated "cherished...bells" to create internal rhyme with "parish church" on the next line of the poem (2.11-12). Other possible translations: beloved bells, darling bells, dear bells, precious bells. An earlier version, "cherished chiming bells," was discarded for being too strained and in discord with their description farther down (9.4).
• casiña. Dim. of "casa" (home, house) translated "darling cottage" (2.8) to stress the countryside environment of the house and translated "dear house" on the last line of the poem to reflect distance, loss, separation, rupture.
• coitadiño. Dim. of "coitado" (hapless, unfortunate, unlucky) translated simply "hapless" to rein in the author's projected empathy.
• figueiriñas. Dim. and pl. of "figueira" (fig tree) translated "dear fig trees."
• fogueiriña. Dim. of "fogueira" (blaze, bonfire, fireplace) translated "beloved fireplace."
• fontiña. Dim. of "fonte" (fountain) translated "favorite spring" to bring out the farmer's affection for the spring and for the cattle he took there for drinking. A typical "fountain" of the Galician countryside consisted of a pipe incrusted in rock to serve as a spout for human consumption and a sink underneath to serve as a watering hole for the cattle (illustration).
• herbiñas. Dim. of "herbas" (blades of grass, grass) translated "hallowed blades" (7.2) to show the protagonist's affection for his father buried underneath and translated "saintly blades" (7.4) to express the same emotion using a different adjective.
• hortiña. Dim. of "horta" (orchard) translated "small orchard" to head off a possible overuse of the adjective "little" in the translated poem: the affection is already expressed by the predicate, "I love so." The previous translation, "little orchard," remains a valid option.
• igrexiña. Dim. of "igrexa" (church) translated "tiny...church" reflecting the size of the building and the economy of a typical rural parish.
• miña (my). Not a diminutive.
• muíño (mill). Not a diminutive.
• paxariños. Dim. and pl. of "paxaro" (bird) translated "little...birds." The phrase connotes size and affection.
• queridiña. Dim. of "querida" (beloved, dear, darling) translated "little darling."
• terriña. Dim. of "terra" (land) translated "dear land."

Explanation of some words, terms or expressions

Virxe da Asunción (8.1, 8.5). The Spanish religious icon known as Our Lady of the Assumption (to heaven).

Pomar (9.2). Also known as Pumar it is a hamlet in county Rois, some 20 kilometers away from Santiago de Compostela. It was so small that one local ditty chaffed it with these words, "Although from a distance the hamlet of Pumar looks like a town it has but a carnation on the way in and a rose on the way out." Another ditty is more generous, "They say that Pumar is uncomely because its houses do not have balconies, yet it has pretty girls who steal away hearts."¹

Musical Adaptation

Troubadour and songwriter Amancio Prada recorded a version of this poem accompanied by the Galicia Symphony Orchestra (first entry). Singer-songwriter Manoele de Felisa covers Prada's version on the second entry. María Xosé Silvar (stage name Sés) sings the full poem on the third entry.

	Amancio Prada and the Galicia Symphony Orchestra from the 1997 album Rosas a Rosalía
	Manoele de Felisa from the 1999 album Orballo
	Sés live at Teatro Colón (A Coruña) on February 25, 2018
	Julia Martínez Sánchez

Recital

Los Hijos de La Casa Grande (min. 6:35 onward)

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Source: Luis Guitian. No balcon do Sil

5.   I Was Born When the Seedlings Sprout     (Nasín cando as prantas nasen)

(Cantares Gallegos, 1863)

Typographical Error in the Original

María del Carmen Sánchez Martínez below recites "mouro" instead of "Mauro" (4.1). A "mouro" in Galician folklore is a member of a legendary prehistoric race of giants who moved and set up huge boulders on the hilltops and who built underground tunnels, caverns and palaces housing immense riches. The change is further justified by the fact that a hill bordering on Bastavales has a flat top called Eira dos Mouros (Field of the Mouros). Accordingly the original line 4.1 read, "¿De que, pois, te queixas, mouro?," but the typesetter mistook the highlighted "o" for an "a" and his error is understandable because this video demonstrates that De Castro's caligraphy sometimes produced a's and o's that are hard to distinguish.

The word "mouro" is a colloquialism for "Neanderthal."

Translator's Note

"Nasín cando as prantas nasen" belongs to the 1863 tome of poetry Cantares Gallegos. Uncharacteristically this poem employs the affectionate diminutive once only.

• mainiña. Dim. of "maina" (agreeable, gentle, soft) translated "gentle, gentle" to accentuate through repetition the positive form of the adjective.

Musical Adaptation

Galician-Argentinian composer and violinist Andrés Gaos Berea (b. 1874, d. 1959) set "Nasín cando as prantas nasen" to music under the title, "Rosa de Abril" (April Rose). Soprano María Bayo with the Galicia Symphony Orchestra and Choir performed the piece in 2007 (first entry). Soprano Cristina Gallardo-Domâs and the Gaos Orchestra cover the composition on the second entry.

The Galician folk group Madialeva wrote its own melody (third entry).

	María Bayo and the Galicia Symphony Orchestra and Choir
	Cristina Gallardo-Domâs and the Gaos Orchestra
	Madialeva from the 2004 album Rúa Aberta

Recital

María del Carmen Sánchez Martínez (Centro Gallego de Palma de Mallorca)

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Source: Josillou. Hans Baluschek, pintor alemán

6.   My Sweet Kitchen Maid     (Miña carrapucheiriña)

(Cantares Gallegos, 1863)

Translator's Notes

Conventional etymology holds that the word "carrapucheira" comes from "cara" (face) and "pulchra" (beautiful) hence "beautiful face." I submit that the word is more likely a contraction of "carrea" (carries) and "pucheiros" (pots) whence a "pot-carrier" or a kitchen maid. This opinion matches the slant of the traditional quatrain whose first two lines close "Miña carrapucheiriña,"

"Miña carrapucheiriña" belongs to the 1863 tome of poetry, Cantares Gallegos. The poem makes liberal use of the affectionate diminutive form peculiar to the Galician language. This form ends in iña (feminine) or iño (masculine), but not every word with these endings is an affectionate diminutive.

All the words in "Miña carrapucheiriña" that end in iña or iño are listed below together with an explanation of the translation made. Galician affectionate diminutives offer the translator an opportunity to add alliteration, internal rhyme and lyrical sharpness to the text. Usually there is no one rigorous translation of an affectionate diminutive. A translator then picks the adjective, adverb or noun which conveys smallness, frailty, concern or affection, depending on the context, and which simultaneously pleases him (or her) most.

• borralliña. Dim. of "borralla" (ash, cinders) translated "warm...embers" to stress the maid's caring for the old woman whom she will allow to sleep overnight in the kitchen "beside the stone oven that will keep you warm" (14.5).
• caldiño. Dim. of "caldo" (broth) translated "hot broth" to duplicate the logic used in the translation of "borralliña."
• cociña (kitchen).
• coitadiña. Dim. of "coitada" (hapless, unfortunate, unlucky) translated "ill-fated" to indulge the beggar's self-pity.
• copriñas. Dim. and pl. of "copra" (quatrain) merely translated "quatrains" because the nature of the rhymes is unspecified.
• cortiña (grazing yard). A refashioned diminutive of "corte" (stable).
• estreliñas. Dim. and pl. of "estrela" (star) translated "twinkling stars" to project affection surreptitiously through a subliminal recall of the much-loved nursery rhyme "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." Other options: little stars, pretty stars.
• feitiña. Dim. of "feita" (well-rounded) translated "lovely." Other options: beautiful, cute, pretty.
• meniña. Translated "little girl." Not an affectionate diminutive except when used figuratively. Other options: baby, child, lassie.
• miña (my).
• niñas. Pl. of niña (pupil of the eye).
• orfiña. Dim. of "orfa" (orphan) translated "poor orphan child" to underscore the tragic life story of the elderly beggar.
• palliña. Dim. of "palla" (straw) translated "comfy...straw" to underline the charitable action of the maid.
• paxariños. Dim. and pl. of "paxaro" (bird) translated "little...birds." The phrase connotes size and affection (cf. "Chaveleh" from "A Fiddler on the Roof").
• pitiño. Dim. of pito (chick) translated "little chick."
• pombiñas. Dim. and pl. of "pomba" (dove) translated "darling doves."
• santiña. Dim. of "santa" (saint) translated "dear...saint."
• sereniña. Dim. of "serena" (serene, undisturbed) simply translated "undisturbed" devoid of affection because this serene water "settled enveloped by murk" and "dwelled shrouded in gloom" (9.9-10). Another option: gently flowing.
• todiñas. Dim. of "todas" (all) translated "every one" to accentuate the maid's surprise at the eloquence and wisdom of the old woman.
• velliña. Dim. of "vella" (old woman) translated "dear old woman." Other options: dear grannie, granny.

Explanation of some words, terms or expressions

Gárdevos Santa Mariña (2.2). Most likely the Galician St. Marina de Aguas Santas.²

Yet clear pupils has lent you till now blessed Saint Lucy (8.2-4). Saint Lucy is the patron saint of the blind.³

Ring out the Ave Marías (13.10). That is the Angelus which was rung three times a day: 6:00 AM, noon and 6:00 PM.

I will rub the seashells together (16.1). A percussion accompaniment, e.g. to min. 1:00 and min. 1:15-1:29 of this video.

Musical Adaptation

Resonet has set this poem to music (track #3 MP3 sold here).

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Source: La romería, entre la fé y la leyenda.
Galicia Unica. July 13, 2012

7.   Our Lady of the Barge     (Nosa Señora da Barca)

(Cantares Gallegos, 1863)

Background

Legend has it that the fishing village of Muxía was the final place a fatigued Saint James reached when he came preaching to Spain. He waded into the cold ocean water up to his knees wondering whether his missionary outreach would bear fruit. As he pondered full of doubt he spied a sailing boat made of stone approaching, carrying a woman cloaked in black. The woman was Mary the mother of Jesus. She congratulated the apostle on his epic journey and urged him to return to Jerusalem by the same route he had taken. James obeyed and departed after ordering the villagers to erect a chapel in Mary's honour.

A stony slab reputed to be the hull of that legendary boat rocked and huffed when, according to tradition, anyone in state of grace stood upon it, declining to do so for someone in state of mortal sin. The slab was struck by lightning a few years ago and no longer operates.¹ Nearby an arched boulder, reputed to be the boat's sail, is said to heal the kidneys of those who crawl under it nine times.

Muxía and five other villages mentioned in this poem, "Nosa Señora da Barca," lie on a stretch of coast known as the "Coast of Death" for its dangerous waters and high incidence of shipwrecks, the more famous of which were H.M.S. Captain (September 7, 1870), H.M.S. Serpent (November 10, 1890), the Panamanian freighter Casón (December 3, 1987) and the oil tanker Prestige (November 19, 2002).

Our Lady of the Barge and Federico García Lorca

Federico García Lorca paid homage to Our Lady of the Barge in his poem, "Romaxe de Nosa Señora Da Barca," published in 1935,

Festive Pilgrimage in Honour of Our Lady of the Barge (Romaxe de Nosa Señora Da Barca)

(Seis poemas gallegos, 1935)

	Amancio Prada and Cantigas E Agarimos
	Marful, before the sarcophagus of Daniel Castelao in the Pantheon of Illustrious Galicians

Translator's Notes

"Nosa Señora da Barca" is one of the poems in the volume "Cantares Gallegos" that employs the affectionate diminutive form peculiar to the Galician language most often. The affectionate diminutive—singular termination iña (feminine) or iño (masculine)—makes translating harder and something of artwork, but to yield to the temptation of treating it as a nuisance and ignoring it is to rob the translation of the full emotion with which the author wrapped her description of the festivities in honour of Our Lady of the Barge.

All the words in "Nosa Señora da Barca" which end in iña or iño are listed below together with a range of possible translations and a short explanation of the choice made where useful. Galician affectionate diminutives provide the translator with an opportunity to add alliteration, internal rhyme or lyrical sharpness to the text. The aim of the translator is to find the best adjective, adverb or noun which conveys size, frailty, sympathy or endearment according to the context.

• anxeliños. Dim. and pl. of "anxel" (angel) translated "lovely angels." Other options: cute angels, miniature angels, small angels.
• branquiñas. Dim. and pl. of "branca" (white) translated "delightfully white." Other options: captivatingly white, pleasingly white.
• Camariñas. A town named for the unique flower that grows in the region, the "camariña" (Corema album).
• camiño (de). Adverb: on the way to, bound for. Not a diminutive.
• campiñas (tilling fields). Not a diminutive.
• caraveliño. Dim. of "caravel" (carnation) translated "colourful carnation" to provide alliteration. Another option: beautiful carnation.
• cargadiños. Dim. and pl. of "cargado" (loaded) translated "fully loaded." Other options: filled to the hilt, overflowing.
• cariñas. Dim. and pl. of "cara" (face) translated "pretty...faces." Other options: cute faces, lovely faces, winsome faces.
• cogolliños. Dim. and pl. of "cogollo" (bud, vegetable heart, sprout) translated "young buds."
• coloradiñas. Dim. and pl. of "colorada" (blushing) translated "flustered" because the colour of the cheeks is caused by excitement, exertion or drink (1.8.3-4).
• corasonciños. Dim. and pl. of "corasón" (heart) translated "dear hearts."
• delgadiñas. Dim. and pl. of "delgada" (slim, trim) translated "charmingly slim." Other options: attractively thin, elegantly trim, fit, of flattering figure.
• feitiñas. Dim. and pl. of "feita" (beautiful, well-crafted, well-rounded) translated "fine."
• feituquiñas/os. Dim. and pl. of "feituca/o" (accomplished, perfect, well-proportioned) translated "splendid." Other options: full-fledged, gorgeous.
• finiñas. Dim. and pl. of "fina" (dainty, elegant, fine, good-looking, refined) translated "fine and dainty."
• gaitiñas. Dim. and pl. of "gaita" (bagpipe) translated "dear bagpipes." Other options: beloved bagpipes, Galician bagpipes, native bagpipes.
• meniñas. Pl. of meniña (girl, lass). Not an affectionate diminutive.
• miña (my). Not a diminutive.
• mociña. Dim. of "moza" (girl) translated "young girl."
• pechugiñas. Dim. and pl. of "pechuga" (breast, chest) whence "pechugiñas de cera" (brooches of wax) translated "cute brooches of wax."
• peíños. Dim. and pl. of "pé" (foot) translated "cute feet." Other options: graceful feet, lovely feet, pretty feet.
• pouquiño. Dim. of "pouco" (little) translated "tad." Other options: bit, mite, wee bit.
• pranchadiñas. Dim. and pl. of "pranchada" (ironed, pressed) translated "neatly pressed." Other options: pressed smooth, wrinkle-free.
• ramiño. Dim. of "ramo" (bouquet) simply translated "bouquet" because the noun is already surrounded by several flattering adjectives (1.10.27-30).
• rapaciñas. Dim. and pl. of "rapaza" (girl, lass, teenage girl) translated "lassies."
• rapaciños. Dim. and pl. of "rapaz" (boy, lad, teenage boy) translated "laddies."
• recollidiña. Dim. of "recollida" (demure, pious) translated "reverent."
• rosquilliñas. Dim. and pl. of "rosquilla" (cookie ring, hard doughnut) translated "mouth-watering...cookie rings."
• sabrosiñas. Dim. and pl. of "sabrosa" (tasty) translated "yummy" (1.10.30)
• xentiña. Dim. of "xente" (people) translated "welcome (people)" (1.3.2). Other options: dear (people), lovable (people). Although it is not the case here "xentiña" is sometimes used to revile as in "low-life, petty criminal, rude, uncouth."
• xuntiñas. Dim. of "xuntas" (together) translated "huddled together" because "huddled" implies greater camaraderie among the girls than simply being together (1.10.25-26).

Explanation of some words, terms or expressions

Para tocar o pandeiro (1.7.11). In Galicia a pandeiro is a square or rectangular board which is held between the arms and tapped with both hands (min. 2:55-2:57, 3:26-3:30 and 3:34-3:38 of this video).

Virxe do Carme (1.8.1). The Spanish religious icon known as Our Lady of Mount Carmel, patron saint of sailors.

And of the gunpowder shells exploding (2.1.10). The word "bombas" is translated "gunpowder shells" rather than "fireworks" because fireworks typically are associated with some sort of dazzling visual display whereas these "bombas" are used exclusively to make noise.

Aqueles dulce resolio (2.1.13). Resolio (literally "pant") was a strong liquor made from aniseed with an alcoholic content above 40% closely related to pastis, today it is a collector's item.

Ó son da alegre pandeira (2.1.18). A pandeira is a tambourine twice the diameter of a normal one.

Con rosquilliñas de almendra (2.1.14). Almond-cookie rings.

Almond-cookie rings¹

Source: Rosquillas de almendra. Robot de cocina: Thermomix

Folklore

The traditional folk song to Our Lady of the Barge in Muxía is performed below by the female half of the group O Fiadeiro (first entry). In the second entry Coral De Ruada sings a traditional song whose second cycle copies the second stanza of Lorca's "Romaxe de Nosa Señora Da Barca." In the third entry Luar Na Lubre incorporates the refrain of De Castro's "Nosa Señora da Barca." Portuguese troubadour Augusto Madrugada sings the medieval romance, "Nossa Senhora da Barca," on the fourth entry. In the fifth entry Ana Kiro (b. 1942, d. 2010) sings "Romería en Muxía" (Festive Pilgrimage in Muxía).

	O Fiadeiro (to min 2:00)
	Coral De Ruada (Note: singing starts on min. 2:40)
	Luar Na Lubre from the 2007 album Camiños da Fin da Terra
	Augusto Madrugada from the 2008 CD Na memória que se alonga
	Ana Kiro from the 2013 album Grandes Éxitos, Vol. 1

Partial Recital

María del Carmen Sánchez Martínez (Centro Gallego de Palma de Mallorca)

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Source: Hai que casarse. Alfonso Daniel Rodríguez Castelao.
All Paintings Home

8.   Though It Be a Sin     (Díxome nantronte o cura que é pecado)

(Cantares Gallegos, 1863)

Translator's Notes

"Díxome nantronte o cura que é pecado" could not be an exception and it too contains many affectionate diminutives. The affectionate diminutive peculiar to the Galician language ends in iña (feminine) or iño (masculine). Notice that not every word that ends in iña or iño is an affectionate diminutive.

All the words in "Díxome nantronte o cura que é pecado" that end in iña or iño are listed below together with a range of possible translations and a short explanation of the choice that was made. Galician affectionate diminutives lend the translator an opportunity to add alliteration, internal rhyme and lyrical sharpness to the text. The objective is to find the best adjective, adverb or noun which conveys small size, frailty, concern or endearment depending on the context. This objective ends in a personal choice when more than one translation is available as is often the case. Sometimes an affectionate diminutive is best ignored because the context is unclear, because the extra term jars the smooth flow of the translation or because it makes the text too syrupy. The exercise can be fun, difficult and challenging. The extra work is worthwhile because it offers the English reader an approximation to what De Castro called "those tender words and those idioms never forgotten which sounded so sweet to my ears since the cradle and which were gathered up by my heart as its own heritage."

• almiña. Dim. of "alma" (soul, spirit) translated "poor soul."
• cadiñas. Dim. and pl. of "cadea" (chain, fetter) translated "tiny fetters"; tiny because these chains are invisible (i.e. allegorical) and "fetters" to alliterate with "fastened" on the following line (23.3-4).
• camiño (path, route, trail, way). Not a diminutive.
• corazonciño. Dim. of "corazón" (heart) translated: "aching heart" because the protagonist is lovesick (16-19). Other options: dear heart, poor heart, precious heart.
• deitadiño. Dim. of "deitado" (lying down, lain) translated "lain gently" because the object of the simile is a baby (14). If the diminutive referred to an adult lying down the pertinent adverb might be "quietly, peacefully, relaxed."
• froliñas. Dim. and pl. of "frol" (flower) translated "pretty...flowers." Other options: colourful flowers, darling flowers, fresh flowers.
• mainiño. Dim. of "maino" (gentle, soft, tranquil) translated: "softly soft," an amplification of "breathing softly" (13.3).
• miña (my). Not a diminutive.
• mociñas. Dim. and pl. of "moza" (girl) translated "lassies." Another option: young girls.
• paseniño (gingerly, leisurely). Not an affectionate diminutive.
• pretiño. Dim. of "preto" (close to, near) translated: "cuddly close to." Another option: snuggly close to.
• rapaciña. Dim. of "rapaza" (girl, teenage girl) translated "dear girl." Another option: lassie.
• tiña (past tense of "ter," to have). Not a diminutive.
• toliña. Dim. of "tola" (crazy, disturbed, mad) translated "adorably daffy" because the protagonist is madly in love.

Explanation of some words, terms or expressions

Jacinto (5.3). Hyacinth, not a common first name in English.

Cara de pote fendido (10.1). "Cara de pote" was slang for an object of dark complexion (an overcast day, a face) because the cooking pots of Rosalia's day were ironwork. The modifier "fendido" (from fenda: slit, crack, chink) may tab the light-coloured areas of Jacinto's face (teeth, white of the eyes) or a scar. Thus the translation, "crackpot face," is wrong. Jacinto is not a nutter but a gypsy probably.

tan contento (23.2). Although the literal translation is, "so merrily," a better rendition is "without a second thought," or "without a care in the world." The first option, "without a second thought," serves to contrast Jacinto's indifference with the infatuated girl's constant dwelling upon him.

Folklore

The Galician countryside regarded a parish priest with ambivalence. He was highly respected when he helped the poor, assisted them in their dealings with the law or looked after the basic education of the children. He was the butt of prudent jokes otherwise. In any case the Galician countryside did not expect a parish priest to be celibate; celibacy was deemed unnatural. Instead the rural priest is a stereotype of covert profligacy in many traditional songs, as for example in the refrain of the xota de Soutomaior which states,

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Courtesy of  Ramón José Rey Lage

Source: The Rifles Collection

9.   At the Tomb of British General Sir John Moore     (Na tomba do xeneral inglés Sir John Moore)

To my friend Maria Bertorini, a native of Wales. Coruña, 1871
(Á miña amiga María Bertorini, nativa do país de Gales. Coruña, 1871)

(Follas Novas, 1880)

Historical Background

"At the tomb of British general Sir John Moore" is an elegy to Scottish-born Lt. Gen. Sir John Moore who died on January 16, 1809, in the Battle of Corunna fighting the army of Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult during the French invasion of Spain. Among John Moore's last words were these to 24-year-old Major Charles Stanhope, "Remember me to your sister, Stanhope," a reference to the notable Lady Hester Stanhope.^1,2 For a long time it was said that every January 16^th a vessel from the Far East arrived to port and a young woman in mourning disembarked, went to weep at Moore's grave and left behind a poppy as a memento.³

The Sir John Moore cenotaph is located in the Garden of St. Charles. Two marble plaques flank the gate to the lookout over the harbour, one reproduces the poem of Reverend Charles Wolfe, "The Burial of Sir John Moore after Corunna," and the other displays an abridged version of De Castro's poem.

At 12:00 noon on Thursday July 30, 1959, Spanish and British dignitaries laid wreaths at the foot of "the mausoleum containing the mortal remains of English general Sir John Moore" (newspaper La Voz de Galicia dated July 31, 1959). Half an hour earlier "troops from the ten British Army regiments that took part in the battle of Corunna" marched to the Garden where a company of Spanish regular infantry awaited. The Gordon Highlanders pipes and drums played the "Last Post"; French sailors from schooners La Belle Poule and L'Étoile were also present. After the brief ceremony all the participants staged a military parade that was watched by "a very numerous public." There was an official reception at Town Hall with music provided by Galician pipes and drums and with the local police donning gala uniforms. "A glass of Spanish wine was served and toasts were made to England, to France and to Spain." In the afternoon the Royal Navy hosted a party for local home children on one of three destroyers docked at the harbour, H.M.S. Camperdown, H.M.S. Armada and H.M.S. Saintes. "The children left the vessel delighted with the kindnesses showered upon them by the British navymen." A formal dinner was held aboard the British flotilla flagship to round out the day.

De Castro dedicated this poem, "Na tomba do xeneral inglés Sir John Moore," to Welsh-born Maria Bertorini (née Mary Margaret Jones)⁴ who was the wife of Camilo Bertorini, a business partner of the Lancashire-born (1836) engineer and builder of the first railway in Galicia, John Stephenson Mould.^5,6,7 The Bertorinis would turn out to be the great-grandparents of Camilo José Cela. Stephenson's father George Mould died in Padrón in 1874.⁸ De Castro also died there eleven years later. It is reasonable to assume that the poetess was as acquainted with the Moulds as she was with the Bertorinis. "Na tomba do xeneral inglés Sir John Moore" then is a token of personal friendship and possibly of gratitude over some financial assistance received.

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Source: Archivo Ramón Caamaño Bentín. Fotos: "El retrato y la muerte."
Mediateca de RTVE.es, retrieved 4 Nov 2013

10.   Black Shadow     (Negra Sombra)

(Follas Novas, 1880)

Theme

The poem reflects De Castro's apprehension at the recurrence of sudden misfortune in her life.

Historical Background

"Negra Sombra" was probably written after two of De Castro's babies died a short time apart. Twenty-month-old Adrian died from a fall in November of 1876 and Valentina was stillborn three months later (Marina Mayoral. "Biografía de Rosalía de Castro." Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes).

Translator's Notes

Negra sombra que me asombras (1.2) and Sombra que sempre me asombras (4.4). The verb asombrar has four definitions in the Galician language: (1) To give shade. (2) To instill dread or fear; to haunt. (3) To amaze, to astound. (4) To be amazed or to be astounded. Only the first two are appropriate here, De Castro dreads the recurrence of sudden misfortune, an apprehension clearly expressed in her poem A Disgracia (poem 11). Therefore these two lines could equally well be translated, "Black shadow that haunts me" (1.2) and "Shadow that always haunts me" (4.4).

At the foot of my head pillows (1.3). Almost certainly depicts the laying down of Valentina's dead body on the pillow beside the mother after giving birth. An earlier translation, To the hem of my head pillows, is more beautiful poetically because of its alliteration but a little less precise: it admits distress for any other motive.

From the very sun you taunt me (2.2). The literal translation is: "On the very sun you show yourself to me," perhaps prefiguring a solar eclipse, but the literal translation is awkward and foils the ambition of preserving the poem's meter and musicality. The chosen translation transmits the emotional pitch spot-on and molds the English text to the arrangement of Juan Montes Capón.

And you are the river's rumour (3.3). The literal translation is: "And you are the river's murmur," but this option forfeits the alliteration present in the Galician "marmurio do río" which the chosen translation reproduces somewhat.

And the night and the dawn (3.4). The literal translation is: "And you are the night and you are the dawn." The removal of the inflection better adapts the translation to the melody of Capón.

Musical Adaptation

The Provincial Museum of Lugo holds the score of the musical adaptation of "Negra Sombra"; the sheet of music dates from 1890-1892.

This poem, "Negra Sombra," became one of the most emblematic Galician ballads ever when composer Juan Montes Capón fused it with an alalá written down in Cruz do Incio (Lugo). The musical arrangement had its debut at Havana's Grand Theatre in 1892. The ballad is arguably one of the most beautiful and prominent in the Galician repertoire; its lyrics so blend with the melody that it is no longer possible to conceive them apart.

(Apuntes de "Negra Sombra." Casavaria)

Many artists have interpreted this ballad, eleven selections are offered below.

	Orfeón Donostiarra and the Orquesta Clásica del Reino de Aragón
	Luz Casal and Carlos Núñez from the soundtrack of the 2004 movie Mar Adentro
	Fadista María do Ceo
	Najla Shami from the 2013 album Na Lingua que Eu Falo
	Milladoiro from the 1989 album Castellum Honesti (Celtic)
	Sung in Catalan by María del Mar Bonet
	Baritone Antonio Campó (vintage recording)
	Reviravolta from the 1997 album O Miño Non Pasa Por Escocia
	Antoñita Moreno from the 1965 album Ronda de España
	Pucho Boedo and Los Tamara from the 1974 album Miña Galicia Verde
	Manoele de Felisa from the 1999 album Orballo

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Source: Caspar David Friedrich

11.   Misfortune     (A Disgracia)

(Follas Novas, 1880)

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Source: Poema de Marta Zabaleta para un niño amigo, mendigo de Santiago

12.   Pharisees     (Tembra un neno no húmido pórtico)

(Follas Novas, 1880)

Explanation of some words, terms or expressions

But the book of great mysteries is sealed not in vain (6.1-2). Most likely the Book of Revelation.

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Source: Todo Colección

13.   Sweet Dream     (Dulce sono)

(Follas Novas, 1880)

Musical Adaptation

"Dulce Sono" was set to music by distinguished Galician composer Juan Montes Capón who changed the title to Doce Sono, one of his Six Galician Ballads. He entered this ballad together with Negra Sombra in the 1892 Musical Competition of Pontevedra organized by the Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País (Economic Society of Friends of the Land) and won first prize. The composition is performed on the first entry below. Marta Sancho Andrés and Jorge Abreu adapt the piece to clarinet and piano in the second entry. Singer-songwriter Graciela Pistocchi Pereira offers her own composition on the third.

	Carmen Subrido Tubío and Xoán Elías Castiñeira Varela
	Marta Sancho Andrés and Jorge Abreu (clarinet and piano)
	Graciela Pistocchi Pereira

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Source: Imágenes del recuerdo. Azagra (Navarra)

14.   Why?     (¿Por qué?)

(Follas Novas, 1880)

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Source: Xelo2004. Wikimedia Commons

15.   Winter Months     (Meses do inverno)

(Follas Novas, 1880)

Folklore

The Celtic band Milladoiro captured the spirit of a normal Galician winter in their piece, "Invernía" (track 11 of the 1989 album As Fadas de Estraño Nome).

Milladoiro

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