For each person, “saudade” has a different meaning. The nostalgia can be for a person, a trip, a moment, a past time, a song, a tourist attraction, childhood or even oneself.
The etymological root of “saudade” comes from the Latin “solitatem”, which means loneliness. What defines this feeling, however, is very particular. In a list of the most difficult words to translate, produced by a British company in partnership with more than a thousand translators, “saudade” ranked seventh.
Although it is difficult to define what this feeling reminds of each individual, everyone knows it or will know it at some point in their lives.
Thinking about this form of universality of feeling, January 30th is when the Day of Saudade is celebrated annually.
This day exists to honor the dear people who have left and the most different reasons that we miss.
On this date, you can take a moment out of the day to enjoy the bittersweet feeling of having lived incredible experiences that will never come back or having met unforgettable people.
and miss them.
Or you can celebrate Saudade Day by sending a poem to the person you miss the most.
Below, we separate some that can inspire you, even for, who knows, you can produce a poem of your own!
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1) “Urgent feeling”, by Clarice Lispector
"Homesickness is a bit like hunger
It only passes when you eat the presence
But sometimes the longing is so deep that the presence is little
Want to absorb the whole other person
This will of one being the other for an entire unification
It is one of the most urgent feelings one has in life.”
2) “Saudade”, by Pablo Neruda
“Saudade is accompanied solitude,
that's when love hasn't gone away yet,
but the beloved already...
Saudade is loving a past that has not yet passed,
is to refuse a gift that hurts us,
it is not seeing the future that invites us…
Longing is feeling that there is what no longer exists...
Longing is the hell of those who lost,
is the pain of those left behind,
is the taste of death in the mouths of those who continue…
Only one person in the world wants to miss you:
the one who never loved.
And this is the greatest of sufferings:
having no one to miss,
go through life and not live.
The greatest suffering is never having suffered.”
Where is your longing? Are you somewhere in the world? Is it just inside your heart? Is it in any memory? Is who you were at some point?
Reflect on this as you celebrate this day!
