Esta é de loor de Santa María.
| Line | Refrain | Metrics | |
| 1 | Sempre faz o mellor | 6 A | |
| 2 | a Madre do Sennor | 6 A | |
| 3 | Salvador. | 3 A | |
| Stanza I | |||
| 4 | A nós faz que non possamos errar, | 10 b | |
| 5 | e a Déus que nos queira perdõar | 10 b | |
| 6 | e eno séu paraíso nos dar | 10 b | |
| 7 | gran sabor. | 3 A | |
| Sempre faz o mellor... | |||
| Stanza II | |||
| 8 | A nós faz que queiramos Déus servir, | 10 b | |
| 9 | e a el que nos faça repentir | 10 b | |
| 10 | dos érros e a emenda vĩir | 10 b | |
| 11 | con amor. | 3 A | |
| Sempre faz o mellor... | |||
| Cantigas de Santa Maria for Singers ©2013 by Andrew Casson www.cantigasdesantamaria.com/csm/390 | |||
| Stanza III | |||
| 12 | A nós faz que sabiamos Déus temer, | 10 b | |
| 13 | e a ele que queira receber | 10 b | |
| 14 | nósso serviço, por nos pois meter | 10 b | |
| 15 | u el for. | 3 A | |
| Sempre faz o mellor... | |||
| Stanza IV | |||
| 16 | A nós faz que connoscamos a Déus, | 10 b | |
| 17 | e a ele que nos tenna por séus, | 10 b | |
| 18 | pois por nós pres mórte pelos judéus | 10 b | |
| 19 | con door. | 3 A | |
| Sempre faz o mellor... | |||
| Stanza V | |||
| 20 | A nós faz que o amemos mais d' al, | 10 b | |
| 21 | e a ele que nos guarde de mal | 10 b | |
| 22 | e do fógo do inférno mortal | 10 b | |
| 23 | queimador. | 3 A | |
| Sempre faz o mellor... | |||
| Cantigas de Santa Maria for Singers ©2013 by Andrew Casson www.cantigasdesantamaria.com/csm/390 | |||
Manuscript references
External links marked 
are to facsimiles on Greg Lindahl's Cantigas de Santa Maria website.
| [E] | 390 | viewhttp://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cantigas/facsimiles/E/697small.htmlExternal link |
Oxford CSM Database record
External link to poem data: CSM 390http://csm.mml.ox.ac.uk/index.php?p=poemdata_view&rec=390
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
| 6 6 3 |
Stanzas
| 10 10 10 3 |
Rhyme
AAA / bbbA| R | I | II | III | IV | V | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | oɾ | |||||
| b | aɾ | iɾ | eɾ | ɛu̯s | al | |
Estimated performance times
| Average syllables / min. | Time | |
|---|---|---|
| Very slow | 50 | 5:05 |
| Slow | 100 | 2:32 |
| Medium | 150 | 1:42 |
| Fast | 200 | 1:16 |
| Very fast | 250 | 1:01 |
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: 255
