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).