Cantiga da Ribeirinha or Cantiga de Guarvaia is one of the first known piece of literature in Galician-Portuguese

Galician-Portuguese

Galician-Portuguese or Old Portuguese was a West Iberian Romance language spoken in the Middle Ages, in the northwest area of the Iberian Peninsula. It was first spoken in the area bounded in the north and west by the Atlantic Ocean and the Douro River in the south but it was later extended south...

. This poem was probably composed in 1198 by Paio Soares de Taveirós

Paio Soares de Taveirós

Paio Soares de Taveirós or Paay Soarez de Taveiroos seems to have been a minor Galician nobleman and troubadour active during the second and third decades of the 13th century. He was a brother of the troubadour Pêro Velho de Taveirós...

 and received this name because it was dedicated to Maria Pais Ribeiro, lover of Sancho I of Portugal

Sancho I of Portugal

Sancho I , nicknamed the Populator , second monarch of Portugal, was born on 11 November 1154 in Coimbra and died on 26 March 1212 in the same city. He was the second but only surviving legitimate son and fourth child of Afonso I of Portugal by his wife, Maud of Savoy. Sancho succeeded his father...

 and called of Ribeirinha. Using male I-lyric, the text tells about a platonic love

Platonic love

Platonic love is a chaste and strong type of love that is non-sexual.-Amor Platonicus:The term amor platonicus was coined as early as the 15th century by the Florentine scholar Marsilio Ficino. Platonic love in this original sense of the term is examined in Plato's dialogue the Symposium, which has...

between the poet, plebeian, and a noble and inaccessible woman.

Lyrics

No mundo non me sei parelha,
mentre me for' como me vai,
ca ja moiro por vós - e ai!
mia senhor branca e vermelha,
Queredes que vos retraia
quando vos eu vi em saia!
Mao dia me levantei,
que vos enton non vi fea!

E, mia senhor, des aquel di', ai!
me foi a mi muin mal,
e vós, filha de don Paai
Moniz, e ben vos semelha
d'haver eu por vós guarvaia,
pois eu, mia senhor, d'alfaia
Nunca de vós ouve nem ei
valía d'ũa correa.

Modern Portuguese

No mundo ninguém se assemelha a mim (parelha: semelhante)
enquanto a vida continuar como vai,
porque morro por vós, e ai
minha senhora de pele alva e faces rosadas,
quereis que vos descreva (retrate)
quando vos eu vi sem manto (saia: roupa íntima)
Maldito dia! me levantei
que não vos vi feia (ou seja, a viu mais bela)

E, mia senhora, desde aquele dia, ai!
tudo me foi muito mal
e vós, filha de don Pai
Moniz, e bem vos parece
de ter eu por vós guarvaia (guarvaia: roupa luxuosa)
pois eu, minha senhora, como mimo (ou prova de amor)
de vós nunca recebi
algo, mesmo que sem valor. (correa: coisa sem valor)

Note: an alternative to guarvaia is manto or túnica (it is a kind of reddish luxurious mantle common in aristocracy.

Translation

In world nobody is similar to myself,
while my life keep going as things go,
because I die for you, and ow
my lady of white skin and reddish face,
you desire that I describe you
when I saw you without mantle
Cursed day! I got up
and no more saw you ugly!

And, my lady, since that day, ow
everything goes very badly for me
and you, daughter of don Pai
Moniz, and it really seems for you
that I received from you a tunic
but I, my lady, as a gift,
have never received
something, even a worthless one.

Note: tunic was used instead of the portuguese word, guarvaia, which is an archaic definition to a luxurious mantle, probably red, worn by nobles.