A Piece of Old Galician Poetry

Cantiga de San Simón / Cantiga of San Simón


(Galego-Portugués, Old Galician-Portuguese)


Sedia-m'eu na ermida de San Simón
E cercaron-mi-as ondas que grandes son.
Eu atendend'o meu amigo. E verrá?

Estando na ermida, ant'o altar,
Cercaron-mi-as ondas grandes do mar
Eu atendend'o meu amigo. E verrá?

E cercaron-mi-as ondas que grandes son: 
Non ei i barqueiro nen remador.
Eu atendend'o meu amigo. E verrá?

E cercaron-mi-as ondas do alto mar: 
Non ei i barqueiro nen sei remar.
Eu atendend'o meu amigo. E verrá?

Non ei i barqueiro nen remador: 
Morrerei eu, fremosa, no mar maior.
Eu atendend'o meu amigo. E verrá?

Morrerei eu, fremosa, no alto mar.
Eu atendend'o meu amigo. E verrá?
Non ei i barqueiro nen sei remar:


     Mendiño, Siglo XIII
     (También escrito: Meendiño, Mendinho, Meendinho)
    

(English)

As I sat in the chapel of San Simón,

Waves, so large, surrounded me.

I wait for my beloved. Will he return?

There in the chapel, before the altar,
The large waves of the sea surrounded me.
I wait for my beloved. Will he return?

I wait for my beloved. Will he return?
And the waves, so large, surrounded me.
I have neither boatman nor oarsman.

And the waves of the high sea surrounded me.
I have no boatman, nor can I row.
I wait for my beloved. Will he return?

I wait for my beloved. Will he return?
I have neither boatman nor oarsman.
I will die, a maiden, in the deep sea.

I wait for my beloved. Will he return?
I have no boatman, nor can I row.
I will die, a maiden, amid the rising sea.

 Mendiño, Thirteenth Century

 (Also spelled Meendiño, Mendinho or Meendinho.)

Translations by Walter Aschiero