I'm going far away on pilgrimage to San Andrés,1
with small herbs to win her heart2,
I'll give to the one beyond the sea
my loving caress.
I'll wear the linen shirt
(that she knitted for me)
with small herbs to win her heart;
(the lively, blue lizard is)
moving scarlet poppies closer,
([poppies] born of rifles,)
with my loving caress,
([that's] alien to war and its drums)
Dead or alive I'll return to earth
(as she walked with me)
with small herbs to win her heart;
(the gannet's springing around the cliff)
to watch over the family churchyard,
(over there, at the edge)
with my loving caress.
The end of the world3 at the foot of a stinger
(the vile war hurts me)
among small herbs to win her heart
(a cormorant flies graciously)
the amilladoiro4 yet to be lifted
(and the holy bread yet to colour)
with my loving caress.
I'm going far away on pilgrimage to San Andrés,
with small herbs to win her heart,
I'll give to the one beyond the sea
my loving caress.
1. The original says "Romeiro I'll go far away [to] San Andrés". Romeiro could either mean a religious pilgrim or a person in a holy feast (Romaria); I chose the former.2. lit. "lil' herbs to win [someone's] heart"3. usually cabo do mundo refers to Finisterre (a cape believed long ago to be literally the end of the world). On the contrary, while both are in Galicia (Spain), they are very far from each other: San Andrés de Teixido is to the North, while Finisterre is to the West.4. An amilladoiro is a small mountain of rocks that were put together by pilgrims that traveled down the same road at different times.