Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.
It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.
To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net
If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.
Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.
Three Indian Poems
Song Cycle by Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887 - 1959)
View original-language texts alone: Três Poemas Indígenas
Canide-ioune heura uoêch.
Text Authorship:
Go to the general single-text view
Note: this is a folk text in a Native American / First Nations language recorded by Roquete Pinto. Nheengatu is in the Tupi-Guarani language family, used by the Tupinambá tribe of Brazil.
Canindé bird of gold, sing a song.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from Nheengatu to English copyright © 2019 by Laura Prichard, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in Nheengatu from Volkslieder (Folksongs)
Go to the general single-text view
Translator's notes: The canindé [sic] is a stately, wild Brazilian bird (also called the blue-throated macaw) with bright yellow throat and breast and vibrant blue wings and tail and “heura uoêch” is reported to be a typical, recurring refrain of Tupinambán songs about nature.
Villa-Lobos quoted the text and melody from the following song that can be found in the earliest ethnographic collection of Brazilian native music and birdsong: Jean de Léry's Histoire d’un voyage fait en la terre du Brésil (History of a Voyage to the Land of Brazil, 1578):
This text was added to the website: 2019-08-24
Line count: 1
Word count: 7
Uaiê autiá harênêzê... Zalôkarê uêrôrêtô... Amôkutiá tanohâná... Niiita tiá hazakô Tahârêkalôrê maucê. Tahârêkalôrê maucê. Uai uazarê uaitekô. Uai uazarê uaitekô. Uaiê autiá harênêzê... Zalôkarê uêrôrêtô... Uai uazarê uaitekô. Han!
Text Authorship:
- from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , a funeral ritual for a cacique Indian leader.
Go to the general single-text view
Neste rio tem uma Iára... De primeiro o velho que tinha visto a Iára...Ah á! Contava que ela era feiosa, muito! Preta gorda manquitola ver peixe-boi. Felizmente o velho morreu faz tempo! Ah! Duma feita madrugada de neblina, um moço que sofria de paixão por causa duma índia que não queria ceder pra ele Se levantou e desapareceu na água do rio. Ah! Então principiaram a falar que a Iára cantava, era moça, Cabelos de limo esverdeado do rio. Ah! Ontem o piá brinca brincando subiu na igara do pai abicada no porto botou a mãozinha na água funda E vai, a piranha abocanhou a mãozinha do piá., ah! Neste rio tem uma Iára!... Neste rio tem uma Iára!...
There is an Iára in this River! At first, the old Man he had seen the Iára. Ah! He told she was ugly, very ugly, Black, old, and that she looks like a Peixe-boi (a kind of Amazon fish) Fortunately the old man died a long time ago! Ah! In a certain nebulous night There was a man, who suffered of infatuation For a young Indian girl Who didn't desire him. He rose and disappeared in the river water. Then, one began to say that Iára was singing, She was a girl, hair of moss, turned green by the river. Ah! Yesterday, the piá (little Indian) was playing-playing Boarded the Igára (Indian boat) of his father at the port. He put his little hand in the deep water, And then, the Piranha (ferocious Amazon fish) Devoured the little piá's hand, ah! There is an Iára in this River! There is an Iára in this River!
Text Authorship:
- Translation from Portuguese (Português) to English copyright © by Mirna Rubim, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in Portuguese (Português) by Mário de Andrade (1893 - 1945)
Go to the general single-text view
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 19
Word count: 155