The
Word “Saudade”
Wanderlino
Arruda
As
Bess Sondel
so eloquently
states, Words
can evoke every
emotion possible:
shock, joy,
terror, happiness,
nostalgia, peace…
Words have such
terrifying power,
they can drag
one down to
apathy or shoot
you up to delirium,
they can exalt
to extreme moral
and esthetic
experiences.
This is the
most absolute
truth. I don’t
think there
is a living
soul anywhere
that doubts
it. Words have
a force, a resistance,
a power that
supplants almost
everything else
that exists
in the world.
Armies, Dynasties,
Republics…
these all pass,
but words, words
are never lost.
They are eternal,
firmer than
the granite
of ancient monuments
and palaces.
The words of
Socrates, tran
scripted by
Plato, supplanted
all Greek government
with its military
and civil works.
The majestic
pyramids and
sphinx of Egypt
will one day
turn to dust,
but the words
inscribed in
the Book of
the Dead will
never disappear.
It
is probably
because of this,
that we have
at our disposition,
in the Portuguese
language, a
word that, in
the entire world,
has no equal
in sense, meaning
and semantic
force, as much
power in the
denotative sense
(if this is
possible) as
well as the
connotative
sense, as the
word saudade,
its origin as
murky and obscure
as the depths
of the Portuguese
oceans, as dark,
deep and mysterious
as the virginity
of the Amazon
jungle, or as
scalding as
African Angola
and Mozambique,
also speakers
of the Lusitanian
language.
So,
then…
Let me ask you.
Where exactly
does the word
saudade come
from? From the
Latin solitate,
meaning solitude,
loneliness?
Or from the
Arabian saudah?
Perhaps the
ancient Spanish
soydade, suydade?
Even Antenor
Nascentes, who
was our leading
expert in etymology,
doesn’t
quite convince
us in his explanation
of the word’s
beginning. Could
it have been
derived from
the Portuguese
word saúde,
which means
health, because
it looks like
a phonetic analogy?
I really doubt
it.
So,
not being possible,
at the present
time, to define
where this strange
and magnetic
word came from,
we at least
have the satisfaction
and honor of
having it securely
within the domain
of our Portuguese
vocabulary.
This, we can
do without fear
of interference
from any language
found in or
out of the Latin
family of languages.
The French word
solitude, exactly
the same as
in English,
is far from
expressing the
feeling that
saudade represents
to us. The Esperanto
words, (re)sopiro
and rememoro
are also just
as far from
defining what
we mean when
we use the word
saudade. They
are miles away
from expressing
the semantic
treasure we
tap when we
use it.
And,
by the way,
just what is
saudade? It’s
an emotion that
should dwell
within the heart
of all humanity,
of all races,
rich or poor,
and in every
country of the
world. Saudade
doesn’t
choose, it doesn’t
discriminate,
it doesn’t
have to beg
for permission
to present itself.
It can come
as softly as
a breeze or
as terrifying
as a thunderbolt
out of the blue,
arriving when
we least expect.
Saudade is solitude’s
best friend,
close companion,
inseparable
lover, invisible
visit of friendship,
sometimes smoldering
coals of passion,
and in many
cases, a suave
perfume, shared
moments of tenderness.
To
tell the truth,
it’s not
easy to define
the feeling-meaning
of saudade.
And, it may
be for this
alone, that
it exists only
as an icon of
the mystic Portuguese
language. Saudade
is even more
exalted in the
Brazilian dialect,
this marvelous
mixture of three
great primordial
races. White
European, Black
African and
Tupi Amerindian.
Saudade is a
pain that suffocates
the heart and
gratifies the
soul. Saudade
is the presence
of the absent,
the memory of
the loved one,
a sort of bittersweet,
give and take
arrangement
of convenience
with distance,
a joyful, pleasant
sorrow of the
seen-unseen,
of love, in
the absence
of the beloved.
