Tag Archives: Cristina Branco

This Love is not a River…

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Two of my favorite Fado songs, by two of my favorite singers, Cristina Branco and Carminho:

Translation:
This love is not a river
It has the vastness of the sea
The green dance of the waves
Sobbing in my eyes.
I tried to forget the words
Unspoken between us
But hanging over the silence
On the shores of our voice
I tried to forget your eyes
That do not know how to read mine
But in them is born the daybreak
That dawns on the earth and the heavens
I tried to forget your name
Pluck it from my thoughts
But it returns at every instant
Entwined in the wind.
I tried to see my image
But it was yours that I saw
In my mirror, for I bear
Your flat eyes.
This love is not a river
It has abysses like the sea
And the black mantle of the waves
Shrouds me in blackness
This love is not a river
It has the vastness of the sea
 
Original:
Este amor não é um rio
Tem a vastidão do mar
A dança verde das ondas
Soluça no meu olhar
Tentei esquecer as palavras
Nunca ditas entre nós
Mas pairam sobre o silencio
Nas margens da nossa voz
Tentei esquecer os teus olhos
Que não sabem ler nos meus
Mas neles nasce a alvorada
Que amanhece a terra e os céus
Tentei esquecer o teu nome
Arrancá-lo ao pensamento
Mas regressa a todo o instante
Entrelaçado no vento
Tentei ver a minha imagem
Mas foi a tua que vi
No meu espelho, porque trago
Os olhos rasos de ti
Este amor não é um rio
Tem abismos como o mar
E o manto negro das ondas
Cobre-me de negro o olhar
Este amor não é um rio
Tem a vastidão do mar
https://lyricstranslate.com/en/fado-perdi%C3%A7%C3%A3o-perdition-fado.html

Translation:
I wrote your name on the wind
convinced that I was writing it
on the page of forgetfulness
that in the wind
it would get lost
On the page of forgetfulness
that in the wind it would get lost
And on seeing it go
covered in dust
I considered my heart free
of the bonds of your love
I considered my heart free
of the bonds of your love
Poor me!
I never even thought
that just like me
the wind would fall in love
with that name that is yours
The wind would fall in love
with that name that is yours
As the wind stirs up, so does my pain get stirred up
I want to forget you, believe me
But there is always more wind
I want to forget you
but there is always more wind
Rumi
Translation:
Love is the One who masters all things;
I am mastered totally by Love.
By my passion of love for Love
I have ground sweet as sugar.
O furious Wind, I am only a straw before you;
How could I know where I will be blown next?
Whoever claims to have made a pact with Destiny
Reveals himself a liar and a fool;
What is any of us but a straw in a storm?
How could anyone make a pact with a hurricane?
God is working everywhere his massive Resurrection;
How can we pretend to act on our own?
In the hand of Love I am like a cat in a sack;
Sometimes Love hoists me into the air,
Sometimes Love flings me into the air,
Love swings me round and round His head;
I have no peace, in this world or any other.
The lovers of God have fallen in a furious river;
They have surrendered themselves to Love’s commands.
Like mill wheels they turn, day and night, day and night,
Constantly turning and turning, and crying out.
Original:
If I could see you I would die
and if I died, then I’d see you
I can’t stop, even though I’ve tried
from staring, drowning, in your eyes
Without you all I see are lies
and so my beautiful, that’s why
approaching you, I’m terrified
and yet, still more scared am I
of losing sight of you, my life
In death, I see you with your eyes
awake, you peer out within mine
your love swallowed the whole world up
and burned down my soul and my mind
even my love burned up in yours
it ate up all space and all time
so there’s no inside nor outside
there’s just your side, nothing to find
nothing to say, free, pay no mind
hearing no ears, seeing no eyes
all knots and thoughts simply unwind
as your sword falls, gentler than kind
there’s no one left to realize
Just your dark beauty, shining bright
in each and every lover’s sight
in every tale, in every plight
in all that’s wrong and all that’s right
beneath the depths, above the heights
through all the days, over the nights
you hold my soul closer than tight
and unseen, you perceive the sights
Love’s river floods mine out of sight
Love’s flames burn bodies into light
Love’s kiss turns death back into life
Love conquers all by its sweet might
And so whence my despair or fright?
when all my pains and all delights
are but you, your love and love bites
that bear aloft my soul’s fair kite
and put to shame all that I write

Cristina Branco and Hafez

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Cristina Branco

“Vida Triste”

Translation:

Condemned to live sad
Is he who loves much.
You, my heart, never withstood
The love that the pain inflames.

Again my tortured heart
Sought shelter in thy breast, uselessly;
No one will console the burning thirst
Nor is it is satisfied with the delights of passion.

And always, for any act,
There is a price of suffering,
Until the sweetness of the last touch
Eventually dies in regret.

And like the bodies snared
One day everything goes and there is only loneliness.
Perhaps will there be someone to kill
the fire of this damned passion?
I know love is a sin
So I  also cursed the heavens
that I was tied for life
to one who deceived me

Love never failed me
With tenderness and embraces
But freed my longings,
Never such remembered.

And always, for any act,
There is a price of suffering,
Until the sweetness of the last touch
Eventually dies in regret.

And like the bodies snared
One day everything goes and there is only loneliness.
Perhaps will there be someone to kill
the fire of this damned passion?

 

 

Original:

Condenado a viver triste
É sina de quem muito ama.
Nunca tu, meu coração, resististe
Ao amor que a dor inflama.

Mais uma vez meu torturado coração
Buscou abrigo no teu peito, inutilmente;
Não há quem lhe console a sede ardente
Nem ele se farta das delícias da paixão.

E sempre, para qualquer acto,
Há que pagar com o sofrimento,
Até que a doçura do último tacto
Acabe por morrer num lamento.

Por mais que os corpos se enlacem
Um dia tudo passa e só fica a solidão.
Haverá porventura alguém
que mate o fogo de tão maldita paixão?
Eu sei que amar é pecado
Por isso também a mim o céu castigou
Fiquei pra vida amarrado
A quem sempre me enganou

Jamais o amor me faltou
Com ternuras e afagos
Mas libertar meus anseios,
Nunca de tal se lembrou.

E sempre, para qualquer acto,
Há que pagar com o sofrimento
Até que a doçura do último tacto
Acabe por morrer num lamento.

Por mais que os corpos se enlacem,
Um dia tudo passa e só fica a solidão.
Haverá alguém capaz de matar
O fogo de tão maldita paixão?

Hafez

Translation:

I am the friend of the sweet face, and of the heart-snatching hair
I’m infatuated with the intoxicated eye and pure, unmixed wine

 

You asked, “Say one word about the secret of the covenant of Alast.”
“Once I’ve drunk two cups of wine, then I’ll tell you,” I replied.

 

I am the Paradisal Adam, but in this worldly journey
Now I’m a captive of the beauty of youth

 

In love, there is no escape from pain and suffering
I am standing like the candle, don’t try to scare me with fire

 

Shiraz is the mine of ruby lips and the quarry of beauty
Because of that, a poor jeweler like me is so distraught

 

I’ve seen so many drunken eyes in this city, I think
 I’m tipsy, although I’ve had nothing to drink

 

From all six directions, it is a city full of lovely glances
And I’ve nothing if I don’t buy all six of them

 

If Fortune should be so kind as to guide me to the Friend
Even the Houri’s hair will sweep the sweet dust from off my bed

 

Hafiz, my nature’s like a radiant, hopeful bride
But no mirror have I to see myself, and because of that I sigh

Dick Davis’ translation:

My love’s for pretty faces,
For heart-bewitching hair;
I’m crazy for good wine,
A languorous, drunk stare …

In love there’s no escaping
The burning of desire;
I stand here like a candle –
Don’t scare me with your fire.

I am a man from heaven,
But on this path I see
My love of youth and beauty
Have made a slave of me.

If Fate will help me, I
Will take myself elsewhere –
My bed will be swept clean
By some sweet houri’s hair.

Shiraz is like a mine
Of ruby lips, a store
Of loveliness … and I’m
A jeweler who’s dirt-poor.

I’ve seen so many drunk
Eyes in this town, I think
I’m drunk, although I swear
I’ve had no wine to drink.

You asked me to explain
Eternity for you –
Well certainly, when I
Have downed a drink or two.

Hafez, my nature’s like
A hopeful bride, but I
Lack mirrors to array
Myself – that’s why I sigh.

Original:

         من دوستدار روی خوش و موی دلکشم

مدهوش چشم مست و می صاف بی‌غشم

         گفتی ز سر عهد ازل یک سخن بگو

آن گه بگویمت که دو پیمانه درکشم

         من آدم بهشتیم اما در این سفر

حالی اسیر عشق جوانان مه وشم

         در عاشقی گزیر نباشد ز ساز و سوز

استاده‌ام چو شمع مترسان ز آتشم

         شیراز معدن لب لعل است و کان حسن

من جوهری مفلسم ایرا مشوشم

         از بس که چشم مست در این شهر دیده‌ام

حقا که می نمی‌خورم اکنون و سرخوشم

         شهریست پر کرشمه حوران ز شش جهت

چیزیم نیست ور نه خریدار هر ششم

         بخت ار مدد دهد که کشم رخت سوی دوست

گیسوی حور گرد فشاند ز مفرشم

         حافظ عروس طبع مرا جلوه آرزوست

آیینه‌ای ندارم از آن آه می‌کشم

Words of love…

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Translation:

There are words we kiss,
As if they had mouths
Words of love of hope,
Immense love, crazy hope

Naked words that kiss you
When the night loses taste,
Words that refuse,
The walls of your sorrow.

Suddenly, colorful,
Between words without color,
Expected, unexpected
Like poetry, love.

The name of the beloved,
Revealed letter by letter,
On discarded marble
On abandoned paper.

Naked words that kiss you,
When the night loses taste,
Words that refuse,
The walls of your sorrow.

Original:

Há palavras que nos beijam,
Como se tivessem boca,
Palavras de amor de esperança,
Imenso amor, esperança louca

Palavras, nuas que beijas,
Quando a noite perde o gosto,
Palavras que se recusam,
Aos muros do teu desgosto.

Derrepente, coloridas,
Entre palavras sem cores,
Esperadas inesperadas,
Como a poesia, o amor.

O nome de quem se ama,
Letra a letra revelado,
No mármore distaído,
No papel abandonado.

Palavras nuas que beijas,
Quando a noite perde o gosto,
Palavras que se recusam,
Aos muros do teu desgosto.

 

 

Translation:
Words of love, passing over my tongue
Coming to me from you, and returning to you
If it is your will, and you are the only one who wills,
The lover will be where your splendor manifests
When he submits to you
When you love your slave
You become his beloved
And raise his station

 

Original:

 كَلامُ حًبٍّ عَن لِساني عابِرُ
مِنك أتاني وإليك راجِعُ
لَقد شِئتَ وأنت وحدك تَشاءُ
فالعاشق مجلاك حِين يَخضَعُ
عِندَما ُتحبّ عبدَك فتَصيرُ
معشوقه ومقامه ترفعُ

Source: http://adabarabiqadim.blogspot.com/

 

The certitude of my brightest love

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Hafez: 

I have never seen a more beautiful reminder
than the words of love that linger in this turning dome

 

         از صدای سخن عشق نديدم خوشتر
  يادگاری که در اين گنبد دوار بماند

 

Cristina Branco:

 

The certitude of my brightest love

The certitude of my brightest love
I am going to light up, should there be no moonlight tomorrow
And I will gather from a firefly a lonely glow
That the good bug may forgive me for this theft

Whistling the melodies ever more beautiful
And describing the cities I’ve seen
Of men and fossils and their gestures as written
Of good and evil, peace, calm and tumult

If I am alone it is in an alley that I meet myself
I go door to door asking who saw me
If I lived there, if I was the same and at what point
My desire packed its bags and fled.

Whistling the melody ever more beautiful
The certainty of my brightest love
Of the feeling among the others the favourite
That is to see the rose with time gain colour.

Whistling the melodies ever more brilliant
As brilliant from the certainty of a love
As the ruby most precious among others
That is of tenderness alternating with ardour.

I will not deny staying thus in this beauty
Whistling the melodies ever more fleeting
It is not possible nor is it simple, for sure
But it is will that gives me what I am doing.

Translation from: http://lyricstranslate.com

As Certezas do Meu Mais Brilhante Amor

As certezas do meu mais brilhante amor
Vou acender, que amanhã não há luar
E eu colherei do pirilampo um só fulgor
Que me perdoe o bom bichinho de o roubar

Assobiando as melodias mais bonitas
E das cidades descrevendo o que já vi
Homens e fósseis e seus gestos como escritas
Do bem e do mal, a paz a calma e frenesi

Se estou sozinho é num beco que me encontro
Vou porta a porta perguntando a quem me viu
Se ali morei, se eu era o mesmo e em que ponto
O meu desejo fez as malas e fugiu

Assobiando a melodia mais bonita
A da certeza do meu mais brilhante amor
Da sensação de entre as demais a favorita
Que é ver a rosa com o tempo a ganhar cor

Assobiando as melodias mais brilhantes
Como o brilhante da certeza de um amor
Como o rubi mais precioso entre os restantes
Que é o da meiguice alternando com ardor

Não negarei ficar assim nesta beleza
Assobiando as melodias mais fugazes
Não é possível nem é simples, com certeza
Mas é vontade que me dá do que me fazes

Fado, wind and sea

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06 Fim

End

Not birds, nor stars, nor sails
Are as beautiful in my breast
Daybreak falls silent in my eyes
The night enveloped me so
With this pain as if from a dagger
With this cry of a love without end

Love without end, love without time and measure
Water drawn from the distance, from its source
Light that dawns without dimming
Love that wants to be a breeze, but is a gale
Love that wants to be rain, but is a storm
It is all or nothing and there is everything to lose.

Original:

Fim

Nem pássaros, nem astros, nem veleiros
São tão belos dentro do meu peito
Calou-se a madrugada nos meus olhos
Por isso a noite me envolveu assim
Com esta dor que é asa de punhal
Com este grito de um amor sem fim

Amor sem fim, amor sem tempo e sem medida
Água que brota ao longe da nascente
Luz que amanhece sem anoitecer
Amor que quer ser brisa e é vendaval
Amor que quer ser chuva e é temporal
Que é tudo ou nada e tudo há de perder

Fado of Perdition:

This love is not a river
It has the vastness of the sea
The green dance of the waves
Sobbing in my eyes.

I tried to forget the words
Unspoken between us
But hanging over the silence
On the shores of our voice

I tried to forget your eyes
That do not know how to read mine
But in them is born the daybreak
That dawns on the earth and the heavens

I tried to forget your name
Pluck it from my thoughts
But it returns at every instant
Entwined in the wind.

I tried to see my image
But it was yours that I saw
In my mirror, for I bear
The flat eyes of you.

This love is not a river
It has abysses like the sea
And the black mantle of the waves
Shrouds me in blackness

This love is not a river
It has the vastness of the sea

 

Translations from: http://lyricstranslate.com

Original:

Fado Perdição

Este amor não é um rio
Tem a vastidão do mar
A dança verde das ondas
Soluça no meu olhar

Tentei esquecer as palavras
Nunca ditas entre nós
Mas pairam sobre o silencio
Nas margens da nossa voz

Tentei esquecer os teus olhos
Que não sabem ler nos meus
Mas neles nasce a alvorada
Que amanhece a terra e os céus

Tentei esquecer o teu nome
Arrancá-lo ao pensamento
Mas regressa a todo o instante
Entrelaçado no vento

Tentei ver a minha imagem
Mas foi a tua que vi
No meu espelho, porque trago
Os olhos rasos de ti

Este amor não é um rio
Tem abismos como o mar
E o manto negro das ondas
Cobre-me de negro o olhar

Este amor não é um rio
Tem a vastidão do mar

A bit more Cristina Branco:

Quevedo-Love Constant Beyond Death

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Amor Constante Mas Allá de la Muerte

(Love Constant Beyond Death)
By Francisco de Quevedo

Translation by A.Z. Foreman

That terminal shadow may with darkness seal
my eyes shut when it steals white day from me,
and in an instant, flattering the zeal
of this my eager soul, let it go free.
But on this hither shore where once it burned
it shall not leave behind love’s memory.
My flame can swim chill waters. It has learned
to lose respect for laws’ severity.

     This soul that was a god’s hot prison cell,
veins that with liquid humors fueled such fire,
marrows that flamed in glory as I strove
     shall quit the flesh, but never their desire.
They shall be ash. That ash will feel as well.
Dust they shall be. That dust will be in love.

 

Original:

Cerrar podrá mis ojos la postrera
sombra que me llevare el blanco día,
y podrá desatar esta alma mía
hora a su afán ansioso lisonjera;

mas no de essotra parte, en la riuera,
dexará la memoria, en donde ardía:
nadar sabe mi llama l’agua fría,
y perder el respeto a lei severa.

Alma qu’a todo un dios prissión ha sido,
venas qu’umor a tanto fuego an dado,
medulas qu’an gloriosamente ardido,

su cuerpo dexarán, no su cuydado;
serán ceniça, mas tendrá sentido;
polvo serán, mas polvo enamorado.

 

Cristina Branco

Translation:

Not birds, nor stars, nor sails
Are as beautiful in my breast
Daybreak falls silent in my eyes
The night enveloped me so
With this pain as if from a dagger
With this cry of a love without end
Love without end, love without time and measure
Water drawn from the distance from its source
Light that dawns without dimming
Love that wants to be a breeze but is a gale
Love that wants to be rain but is a storm
It is all or nothing and everything there is to lose.
Original:
Nem pássaros, nem astros, nem veleiros
São tão belos dentro do meu peito
Calou-se a madrugada nos meus olhos
Por isso a noite me envolveu assim
Com esta dor que é asa de punhal
Com este grito de um amor sem fim
Amor sem fim, amor sem tempo e sem medida
Água que brota ao longe da nascente
Luz que amanhece sem anoitecer
Amor que quer ser brisa e é vendaval
Amor que quer ser chuva e é temporal
Que é tudo ou nada e tudo há de perder