catastrophe

Saudade [sɐ.uˈdaðɨ]

a Portuguese and Galician word difficult to translate adequately,

which describes a deep emotional state of nostalgic longing for

something or someone that one was fond of and which is lost.

It often carries a fatalist tone and a repressed knowledge that the

object of longing might really never return. Saudade has been

described as a "vague and constant desire for something that does

not and probably cannot exist ... a turning towards the past or

towards the future".

A stronger form of saudade may be felt towards people and things

whose whereabouts are unknown, such as a lost lover, or a family

member who has gone missing. It may also be translated as a deep

longing or yearning for something which does not exist or is

unattainable.

Saudade was once described as "the love that remains" or "the love

that stays" after someone is gone. Saudade is the recollection of

feelings, experiences, places or events that once brought

excitement, pleasure, well-being, which now triggers the senses and

makes one live again. It can be described as an emptiness, like

someone or something that should be there in a particular moment is

missing, and the individual feels this absence. In Portuguese,

'tenho saudades tuas', translated as "I have saudades for you' means

'I miss you', but carries a much stronger tone. In fact, one can have

'saudades' of someone with which one is, but have some feeling of

loss towards the past or the future.