Saudade
The word saudade comes from the Latin solitatem, which means solitude. From that word came solidade, soidade and finally saudade.
That is the Portuguese word to describe sentiments like missing someone or something, yet not so simple as 'I miss you' or 'I miss my cat'.
Saudade is more than a pretty word; it is a feeling that can be strange, contradictory, bitter and sweet.
The bitter feeling is the one that hurts inside, a knot in the heart that makes us cry. Worse than solitude, where the hope to find or to re-encounter someone is possible. With saudade, the void inside can't be filled.
The sweet part is the inspiration; songs and poems generated by saudade, which has been the source of smiles.
Like the cake, only a mother could bake. No other will taste quite the same. Her cake is part of memories, of a past. It's an intangible we can never be replaced.
Saudade is a complex word, one which possibly, no single word in another language defines completely.
When translating poems from Portuguese to English, I always find very difficult to translate that word...and never really 100% satisfyed with the English terms I use to translate it.
Saudade is among the 10 most untranslatable words.
Here I give some examples of saudades:
"Saudade is to tidy the room
of the son who died..."
"Saudade is like pain
felt on an amputated member"
by Chico Buarque - Brazilian song writer
"The house of saudade calls memory: it's a small cabin in the corner of a heart"
by Henrique M. Coelho Neto - Brazilian novels writer
"Saudade is a sentiment from the heart not from the reason"
By Dom Duarte King of Portugal
"Forever is a long time. Time doesn't stand still! Only saudade makes things stay still in time"
By Mario Quintana - Brazilian poet and journalist
"The best cure for saudade is loss of memory"
By Carlos Drummond de Andrade - Brazilian poet
If you want to read more about saudade...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudade
You must feel it and you will know what it is.
Adding your comment:
The first example and the last did it for me... Love~
