Happily the vast majority of everything in this poem is grammatically understandable thanks to what I read in the grammar. The problem is the vocabulary, I have no idea how I'm going to learn Guarani vocabulary. I'm still learning hundreds of new Basque words every month and Basque vocabulary is generally well documented. The first monolingual Guarani-Guarani with 2000 entries was finalised last year, but still hasn't been published as far as I know.
Mba’éicha héra
Mba’éicha héra
pe cherenóiva?
Mba’éiko aipo
ipu asýva
ipu mbegue
ha ipu meme
jevy jevýva
ombotaroguáicha
amo okañyhápe
che ánga rokẽ...
Ipu meme
ku pyhare
cheaño jave
cheñatõi
chemombáy
chejopipa
chemoangekói
che pireguýpe oikérõguáicha
chemonga’u
che korasõ ombotarova...
What is the name
What is the name
Of that which calls me?
What is it that
Makes a sound
Delicately, slowly
Repeatedly
Again and again
As if it is knocking
On that which is hidden
The door of my soul
It makes a sound
On those nights
When I am alone
It pokes me
It wakes me
It prickles me
It unsettles me
As if it get under my skin
And inebriates my heart...
asýva - the root asy by itself means pain, but is used in Guarani to express superlative degrees of a quality.
ao hovy asýva - intensely blue clothing
h'eẽ asy - it is very sweet
But at the same time, paradoxically, to express fragility, delicateness.
Ivevúi asy pe kambuchi - this jug is very fragile
Máva mba’e
yvypóra mymba
Ñanderu pytu
yvytu ravel
ka’aguy jarýi
terã póra yma
heruguã?
Máva mba’e
yvypóra mymba
Ñanderu pytu
yvytu ravel
ka’aguy jarýi
terã póra yma
Who what
Human animal
The breath of God
The rabel of the wind
The spirits of the forests
Or ancient spectre
A mystery?
Who what
Human animal
The breath of God
The rabel of the wind
The spirits of the forests
Or ancient spectre
ravel - I think it is referring to the introduced Spanish stringed instrument, also called the rebec.
jarýi - literally means grandmother. But the 'grandmother(s) of the forest' refers to the deity of the forest. It's interesting to know that whilst ka'aguy means forest, its singular form ka'a means yerba mate, and the mate plant has an important place in traditional Guarani culture (among other things it is a widely used medicinal plant), in fact, ka'a jarýi, the grandmother of the mate plant, is a deity.
Mba’e piko aipo
oñehendukáva
ha ipu rasẽngýva
he’ívo che réra?
Mba’éicha héra
pe cherenóiva?
What is that
That is heard as
And sounds like a cry
When it says my name?
What is the name
Of that which calls me?