Chapter 6 of Translation from Galician to English of 11 poems by Rosalia de Castro

Source: Sempre En Galiza. Música galega. Dixitaliza e comparte

6. Lass of the Green Mountain (Acolá enriba)

(Cantares Gallegos, 1863)

Background

The Galician Highlands run like an eastern buffer from the Atlantic coast bordering on the Principality of Asturias south to the Portuguese frontier. The better-known mountain ranges of this chain are Os Ancares, O Courel and the Central Ourense Range. Few people dwell in this mountainous region. In De Castro's day they were despised (see poem 9).

Ancares by Luar Na Lubre.

Deep inside O Courel.

Translator's Notes

"Acolá enriba" contains four affectionate diminutives (feminine termination iña, masculine iño). Usually there is no rigorous one-to-one mapping between this grammatical form and an English word, hence the affectionate diminutive brings an opportunity to add alliteration, internal rhyme and lyrical sharpness to the text while staying true to the context.

All the words in "Acolá enriba" that end in iña or iño are listed below together with a short explanation of the translation made.

dulciños. Dim. and pl. of "dulce" (sweet) translated "honey-sweet." Other options: sugary sweet, tenderly sweet (songs).
feitiña. Dim. of "feita" (here done by or to) translated "sustained fondly" because the subject of the sentence is a wound of love "done to" (inflicted on, sustained by) the speaker who nevertheless cherishes it.
liño (linen). Not a diminutive.
mainiña. Dim. of maina (agreeable, gentle, soft) translated "gentle gentle" to accentuate through repetition the positive form of the adjective.
meniña (girl, lass). Not an affectionate diminutive.
nubiña. Dim. of "nube" (cloud) translated "scud cloud." Other options: tiny cloud, vapour.

Explanation of some words, terms or expressions

meniña morena (1.3). The adjective morena usually means "brown-skinned" but it can also mean "brunette." Since the girl's skin colour is labelled unusually white (6.1) the second definition applies.

na sombra dos pinos (5.9). The literal translation is "pine-trees' shadow." The chosen variation, "evergreens' shadow," reflects the prevalence of an alpine coniferous tree on the Galician Highlands different from the Greek Mediterranean variety cultivated in the rest of the country.

eu lla vestira, eu lla calzara (7.1). Probably inspired by the popular romance, La Pedigüeña (The Exacting Lady).

Classical Music

Galician-Argentinian violinist and composer Andrés Gaos (b. 1874, d. 1959) composed a symphony entitled, "In the Mountains of Galicia," in 1953. Its three movements are presented below.

Andante Mosso

Andante

Allegro moderato

Presentation

"Acolá enriba" was published with a line length of six syllables. Here the line length has been doubled to improve readability.

Acolá enriba na fresca montaña,
que alegre se crobe de verde retama,
meniña morena de branco vestida,
nubiña parece no monte perdida,
que xira, que corre, que torna, que pasa,
que rola e, mainiña, serena se para.

Xa envolta se mira na espuma que salta
do chorro que ferve na rouca cascada.

Xa erguida na punta de pena sombrisa,
inmoble cal virxe de pedra se mira.

A cofia de liño aos ventos soltada,
as trenzas descoida que os aires espallan.

Tendida-las puntas do pano de seda,
as alas dun ánxel de lonxe semellan,
si as brisas da tarde, xogando con elas,
as moven ca gracia que un ánxel tivera.
Eu penso, ¡coitado de min!, que me chaman,
si as vexo bulindo na verde enramada.
Mais ¡ai! os meus ollos me engañan traidores
pois vou e, lixeira na niebra se esconde;
se esconde outras veces na sombra dos pinos
e canta escondida cantares dulciños
que abrasan, que firen ferida de amor
que teño feitiña no meu corazón.

¡Que feita, que linda, que fresca, que branca
dou Dios á meniña da verde montaña!
¡Que hermosa parece, que chore, que xima;
cantando, sorrindo, disperta, dormida!
¡Ai, si seu pai por regalo ma dera!,
¡Ai, non sentira no mundo máis penas!
¡Ai!, que por tela conmigo por dama,

eu lla vestira, eu lla calzara.

Way up yonder on the cool-clime mountain,
Merrily covered with broom shrubs green,
A brunette lass in white clothing
Seems a scud cloud lost in the upland
That whirls, dashes, turns back, passes,
Veers and gentle gentle halts serene.

She looks at herself enveloped in leaping spray
From the jet that churns in the droning cascade.

She stands erect upon the dark crag's crest,
Posing like a stone madonna motionless.

She unlaces the linen bonnet to the winds;
The air flares the unattended braids.

She raises the tips of the silken shawl;
Afar they resemble the wings of an angel
If the afternoon breezes with them playing
Flap them with the flair an angel would don.
Blighted me! I fancy that to me they beckon
If I see them fanning amid the green foliage.
But alas! my traitorous eyes trick me
For I go and she hides quick in the fog
(Other times she hides in the evergreens' shadow)
And hidden she sings honey-sweet songs
That scorch, that inflict the wound of love
I have sustained fondly in my heart.

How comely! How pretty! How natural! How white
God made the lass of the green mountain!
How gorgeous she looks whether she weeps or moans,
Singing—smiling—woken—slumbering!
Ah, if her father gave her to me for a present!
Ah, I'd have no more sorrows in the world!
Ah! To have her beside me for lady,

I'd ply her with shoes, I'd ply her with dresses.