Quero um cavalo de várias cores: Reinaldo Ferreira

"Quero um cavalo de várias cores" (I want a horse of various colours)is an amazing poem by the late Reinaldo Edgar Ferreira (1922-1959). From this inspiring text my dear friend Bruno Walter Ferreira composed the beautiful song "Cavalo de Várias cores", which I had the pleasure to arrange for the album "25 Anos de Música Original nos Açores" , edited in 2010.
The text had also been used by Pedro Jordão and sung by João Maria Tudella, and edited in a (forbidden) 1969 LP "Tudella Canta Música de Pedro Jordão", and also by Filipa Pais in "Que o mundo é meu", in her 2004 album "À porta do mundo" (thank you to my friend Luís Fernandes for this tip).
Reinaldo Edgar's father was also named Reinaldo Ferreira, journalist and writer, known for his "Reporter X" alter ego.
Reinaldo's most acclaimed poems are perhaps "Uma casa portuguesa" (A portuguese house), immortalised by Amália in the song by Vasco Sequeira e Artur Fonseca, and "Menina dos Olhos tristes" (Girl of sad eyes), by José Afonso. 
Spending most of his life in Moçambique, Reinaldo died of lung cancer aged 37, without having published any book. Bellow, settings of "Quero um cavalo de várias cores", along with my free translation of the text. Fifty-five years after his death, the memory of a great poet: Reinaldo Edgar Ferreira.

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Bruno Walter Ferreira in "Cantigas de várias cores", 2004




"25 Anos de música original nos Açores", 2010
Arranged and directed by Rafael Fraga
With: Alexandra Ávila and João David Almeida (vocals), Rafael Fraga (guitar) and Luís Fernandes (accordeon)








"Tudella Canta Música de Pedro Jordão", 1969
Directed by Jorge Machado
With: João Maria Tudella (vocals) and Orquestra de Jorge Machado









Filipa Pais in "À porta do Mundo", 2004

Quero um cavalo de várias cores

Quero um cavalo de várias cores, 
Quero-o depressa, que vou partir. 
Esperam-me prados com tantas flores, 
Que só cavalos de várias cores 
Podem servir. 

 Quero uma sela feita de restos 
Dalguma nuvem que ande no céu. 
Quero-a evasiva - nimbos e cerros - 
Sobre os valados, sobre os aterros, 
Que o mundo é meu. 

Quero que as rédeas façam prodígios: 
Voa, cavalo, galopa mais, 
Trepa às camadas do céu sem fundo, 
Rumo àquele ponto, exterior ao mundo, 
Para onde tendem as catedrais. 

Deixem que eu parta, agora, já, 
Antes que murchem todas as flores. 
Tenho a loucura, sei o caminho, 
Mas como posso partir sozinho 
Sem um cavalo de várias cores?

In Reinaldo Ferreira - Poemas 
Estudo de José Régio 
Prefácio de Guilherme de Melo 
Ed. O chão da palavra/poesia

 

I want a horse of various colours

I want a horse of various colours
I want it quickly, I'm leaving.
Meadows expect me with so many flowers,
That only horses of various colours
Can be filling.

I want a saddle made ​​of the remnants
Of some cloud that walks the sky.
I want it evasive - nimbus and hills -
Over the mounds, over the landfills,
And the world is mine.

I want the reins to do wonders:
Fly, horse, gallop more.
Climb to the layers of the bottomless skies 
Towards that point, where outer world lies,
Where cathedrals make for.

Let me leave, immediately, now,
Before all the withering flowers.
I have the craziness, I know the trail,
But how can I lonesome set sail
Without a horse of various colours?

In Reinaldo Ferreira - Poemas 
Translation by Rafael Fraga