Chora con gran soèdade Este mens olhos cativo — Cantigas de Santa Maria, XIIIth century “My eyes are imprisoned/ Weeping with great longing”. Soèdade (saudade) — “longing” or “yearning” — is a Portuguese word that does not have a precise translation in English. It has been described as a “…vague and constant desire for something that does not and probably cannot exist…”