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Song for a Boyfriend Who Would Die
- Whenever my boyfriend comes to visit,
- he claims to be losing his mind
- over me, and he says he's dying
- with desire, but I'm unconvinced,
- since I have yet to see him dead
- or see him really lose his head.
- He talks in tears about how much
- he's out of his head with love,
- and for me (he says) he'd leave
- this life, but I guess he's in no rush,
- since I have yet to see him dead
- or see him really lose his head.
- Let's see what he has to say
- when next he comes, in perfect health,
- and I say, "Hasn't love killed you yet?"
- He might as well quit trying to sway me,
- since I have yet to see him dead
- or see him really lose his head.
- Until he dies in actual fact,
- he only shows me he knows how to act.
[English version by Richard Zenith]
Nota geral
Cantiga de amigo na qual João Garcia de Guilhade faz um brilhante jogo auto-irónico, ao colocar na boca da amiga a crítica ao cliché da "morte de amor" que ele e os outros trovadores tanto juram nas cantigas de amor. Neste caso, a cantiga concreta aqui referida talvez possa ser <i>A bõa dona por que eu trobava</i>, conhecida composição onde a voz masculina de Guilhade diz tudo o que a donzela aqui refere.Assim, esta original cantiga de amigo, sem deixar de o ser, desenvolve uma razom, (um tema central) em tudo semelhante à que podemos encontrar, por exemplo, na conhecida cantiga satírica de Pero Garcia Burgalês <i>Roi Queimado morreu com amor</i>. Várias outras cantigas de amigo de João Garcia de Guilhade se processam neste registo semi-paródico.
