Bonnie, you can bet I feel like a fool ... "I can't find the book"! -- But I can remember a couple of verses. The translation is mine. I'll make it very literal, as close to word for word as I can. Maybe someone can improve on it. I think I used to know another verse. Maybe it will come to me.

Yo soy un hombre sincero
De donde cresce la palma (2)
In testimonio mi quiero
Hechar mis versas del'alma

CHORUS: Guantanamera,
guajira guantanamera (2)

Con los pobres de la tierra
Quiero yo mi suerte hechar (2)
Y l'arroyo de la sierra
Me complace mas que el mar

I'm a sincere (honest?) man
From where the palm tree grows (2)
In witness, I wish
To make my verses from my soul

CHORUS: Girl of Guantanamo,
Country (peasant) girl of Guantanamo....

With the poor of the earth
I wish to make my fate (throw in my lot, etc.)
And the arroyo of the mountains
Pleases me more than the sea
... I always took this last bit to mean
that he preferred the humble to the grand...

...Sorry that's all I remember right now.
Rita Ferrara

p.s. Today's my day to get to translate things. (See Italians... thread.) Very satisfying. Otherwise a useless talent.

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 3-Sep-02.