CSM Cantiga 137 Lyrics: Sempr' acha Santa María razôn verdadeira

Standard spelling
Sempr' acha Santa María razôn verdadeira
Cantiga 137: Sempr' acha Santa María razôn verdadeira
Please read the notes on using the texts and the IPA transcriptions Please read the notes on using the music transcriptions
   
Standard spelling
Epigraph  

Como Santa María fez seer casto a un cavaleiro que soía seer mui luxurïoso.

Line Refrain  Metrics  
1 Sempr' acha Santa María razôn verdadeira 13' A
2 per que tira os que ama de maa carreira. 13' A
 
  Stanza I     
3 E dest' un mui gran miragre direi que avẽo 13' b
4 a un cavaleiro que éra séu, non allẽo, CSM 137:4See the note to line 35. 13' b
5 desta Sennor grorïosa; mas tant' éra chẽo 13' b
6 de luxuria, que passava razôn e maneira. 13' A
  Sempr' acha Santa María razôn verdadeira...    
 
  Stanza II     
7 Ca pero muito fïava en Santa María 13' b
8 e loava os séus bẽes quanto mais podía, 13' b
9 o pecado de luxúri' assí o vencía 13' b
10 que o démo o levara, cousa é certeira, 13' A
Cantigas de Santa Maria for Singers ©2013 by Andrew Casson
www.cantigasdesantamaria.com/csm/137
 
  Stanza III     
11 assí que nunca ja parte Déus en el houvésse 13' b
12 nen sa Madr', a Virgen santa, se lle non fezésse 13' b
13 ao démo força per que llo toller podésse. 13' b
14 Mais aquela que parindo Virgen foi enteira, 13' A
 
  Stanza IV     
15 a que s' ele noit' e día sempr' acomendava 13' b
16 e que o daquel pecado tirasse rogava, 13' b
17 que o ben que el fazía todo desatava 13' b
18 e fazía sa promessa sempre mentireira. 13' A
  Sempr' acha Santa María razôn verdadeira...    
 
  Stanza V     
19 Ca macar el prometía que nunca tornasse 13' b
20 en est' érro, muitas vezes, e se del quitasse, 13' b
21 o démo lle pois fazía que o non leixasse, 13' b
22 por metê-lo do inférno dentro na caldeira. 13' A
  Sempr' acha Santa María razôn verdadeira...    
Cantigas de Santa Maria for Singers ©2013 by Andrew Casson
www.cantigasdesantamaria.com/csm/137
 
  Stanza VI     
23 El en tal coita vivendo, a mui Grorïosa, 13' b
24 entendendo que saúde dest' éra dultosa, 13' b
25 porque non perdess' sa alma, come pïadosa 13' b
26 faz e come mui sisuda e come arteira. 13' A
  Sempr' acha Santa María razôn verdadeira...    
 
  Stanza VII     
27 Ca pois viu que do pecado nunca pẽedença 13' b
28 el tevéra que lle déssen, meteu sa femença 13' b
29 en tirá-lo del, en guisa que en descreença 13' b
30 non caesse pelo démo, que sempre mal cheira 13' A
 
  Stanza VIII     
31 a pecad' e a mentira e a falssidade. 13' b
32 Porên sãou a Reínna de gran pïadade 13' b
33 este cavaleir' e fez-lle tẽer castidade 13' b
34 por maneira muit' estranna e mui vertudeira. 13' A
  Sempr' acha Santa María razôn verdadeira...    
Cantigas de Santa Maria for Singers ©2013 by Andrew Casson
www.cantigasdesantamaria.com/csm/137
 
  Stanza IX     
35 E fez-lle que non perdesse ollos, pées nen mãos CSM 137:35In this line I've taken the rather unusual step of restoring an elided vowel in one place and then marking synaeresis in another. The reason is that in almost every other line of this cantiga there are rhythmic units of 8 and 6 syllables, corresponding closely to the musical phrasing, with no words split across units. In this line, however, ollos spans the unit boundary if perdesse is elided. It is better, therefore, to use the full form of this word, and compensate with synaeresis in pées, which is easily justifiable since it occurs elsewhere (e.g. CSM 213:66) and the shorter form pés is quite common. (When I say "almost every other line", this unfortunately excludes line 4, which is a bit of a fly in the ointment: the rhythmic boundary there is in the middle of the word éra and cannot be fixed so easily. See also the note to line 38.) 13' b .o
36 nen outros nembros do córpo, mais que fossen sãos; 13' b
37 mais se o metess' o démo en cuidados vãos 13' b
38 de pecado, que non podéss' seer en tal feira; CSM 137:38Synaeresis in seer would be the "obvious" resolution to the extra metrical syllable in this line, but elision of podésse is actually better in this case since, as discussed in the note to line 35, it avoids having a word that spans the boundary between rhythmic sub-units. By the way, if you are doubtful as to whether podéss' seer is actually pronounceable, observe that line 25 above has perdess' sa alma, which is found in that exact form in both Mettmann and [E]. 13' A
 
  Stanza X     
39 ca pero que gran sabor houvésse de querê-lo, 13' b
40 que per nulla maneira non podésse fazê-lo. 13' b
41 Esto fez a Virgen santa pera sig' havê-lo, 13' b
42 ca de salvar os séus sempre é mui sabedeira. 13' A
  Sempr' acha Santa María razôn verdadeira...    
 

Footnotes

Line 4:

See the note to line 35.

Line 35:

In this line I've taken the rather unusual step of restoring an elided vowel in one place and then marking synaeresis in another. The reason is that in almost every other line of this cantiga there are rhythmic units of 8 and 6 syllables, corresponding closely to the musical phrasing, with no words split across units. In this line, however, ollos spans the unit boundary if perdesse is elided. It is better, therefore, to use the full form of this word, and compensate with synaeresis in pées, which is easily justifiable since it occurs elsewhere (e.g. CSM 213:66) and the shorter form pés is quite common. (When I say "almost every other line", this unfortunately excludes line 4, which is a bit of a fly in the ointment: the rhythmic boundary there is in the middle of the word éra and cannot be fixed so easily. See also the note to line 38.)

Line 38:

Synaeresis in seer would be the "obvious" resolution to the extra metrical syllable in this line, but elision of podésse is actually better in this case since, as discussed in the note to line 35, it avoids having a word that spans the boundary between rhythmic sub-units. By the way, if you are doubtful as to whether podéss' seer is actually pronounceable, observe that line 25 above has perdess' sa alma, which is found in that exact form in both Mettmann and [E].

Standard spelling  
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Manuscript references

External links marked are to facsimiles on Greg Lindahl's Cantigas de Santa Maria website.

[E]137viewhttp://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cantigas/facsimiles/E/273small.htmlExternal link
[T]137 

Oxford CSM Database record

External link to poem data:  CSM 137http://csm.mml.ox.ac.uk/index.php?p=poemdata_view&rec=137

Links to the Oxford database are provided with the kind permission of the project team. When planning a concert or recording, I would recommend that you use (and credit) my more pragmatic texts and supporting materials in the preparation of your performance, but that you request permission from the Oxford database team to reproduce (and credit) their own critically edited texts in your programme or liner notes, as these adhere to stricter criteria that keep them closer to the original sources, and undoubtedly have the greater academic authority.

Metrical summary

Refrain

13'  13'

Stanzas

13'  13'  13'  13'

Rhyme

AA / bbbA
 RIIIIIIIVVVIVIIVIIIIXX
Aei̯ɾa
b eŋoi.aɛseaβaaseozaenʦaadeaŋoselo

Estimated performance times

Average syllables / min. Time
Very slow5017:21
Slow1008:40
Medium1505:47
Fast2004:20
Very fast2503:28

These are very approximate total times for a full sung (or spoken) performance of all stanzas with all repeats of the refrain. Note that the speed is in average syllables per minute, and no particular mensural interpretation is assumed. More ornamented music will reduce the syllabic speed considerably. Remember also to add time for instrumental preludes, interludes and postludes.

Total syllables: 868