home page ?


Douz braitz e critz
e chans e sos e voutas
aug dels auzelhsqu'en lur lati fan precz
quecx ab sa par, atressi cum nos fam
ab las amiguas en cui entendem:
e doncas ieu, qu'en la gensor entendi,
dei far chanso sobre totz de tal obra
que no'i aia mot fals ni rim'estrampa.

No fui marritz
ni no prezi destoutas
al prim qu'intrei el chastel dins los decx,
lai on estai midonz don ai gran fam
qu'anc non ac tal lo neps de sanh Guillelm:
mil vetz lo jorn en badail e'm n'estendi
per la bella que totas autras sobra
tan cum val mais gran gaug que no fai rampa.

Ben fui grazitz
e mas paraulas coutas,
per so que ges al chauzir no fui pecx,
ans volgui mais penre fin aur qu'eram
lo jorn que ieu e midons nos baizem
e'm fetz escut de son bel mantelh endi,
que lauzengier fals, lengua de colobra,
non o visson don tan mals motz escampa.

Ges rams floritz
de floretas envoutas
cui fan tremblar auzelho ab lurs becx
non es plus fresc, per qu'ieu no vuelh Roam
aver ses lieiz ni tot Iheruzalem:
pero totz fis mas juntas a li'm rendi,
qu'en lieis amar agr'ondra'l reis de Dobra
o selh cui es l'Estel' e Luna-Pampa.

Dieus lo cauzitz
per cui furon assoutas
las fallidas que fe Longis lo cecx,
voilla q'ensems eu e midons jagam
en la cambra on amdui nos mandem
uns rics covens don tan gran joi atendi
que'l sieu bel cors baisan, rizen descobra
e qu'el remir contra'l lum de la lampa.

Boca que ditz?
Eu cug que m'auras toutas
tals promessas que l'emperaire grecx
en for'onratz e'l senher de Roam
o'l reis que ten Sur e mais Besleem:
donc ben sui fols que tan quier que'm rependi
que gens Amors non a poder que'l cobra,
ni san Genieis, nuill om que joi acampa.

Sweet tweets and cries
and songs and melodies and trills
I hear, from the birds that pray in their own language,
each to its mate, just as we do
with the friends we are in love with:
and then I, who love the worthiest,
must, above all others, write a song contrived so
as to have no false sound or wrong rhyme.

I didn't get lost
nor did I sway
the first time I entered the castle's fence,
where my dame rests, of whom I have such craving
that not even the niece of St. Wilhelm felt one like it:
a thousand times a day I yawn and stretch
for the fair one that bests all the others
as much as a great pleasure is better than a cramp.

I was well liked,
and my words received,
since I was not a fool in my selection,
as I prefer pure gold to copper;
the day I and my lady kissed,
she covered me with her beautiful blue cloak,
so that the slanderers, snake tongues,
couldn't see that which stirs so many evil words.

No bough covered
of flowers still budding
that birds shake with their beaks
is fresher, so that I don't want Rouen
to own, without her, nor all Jerusalem:
then, in truth, I surrender to her with joined hands,
since in loving her the king of Dover would gain honour,
and so would the one who owns Estela and Pamplona.

Merciful God,
through whom were absolved
the sins committed by Longinus the blind,
make it so that me and my dame lay together
in the room where we both made precious
oaths from which I expect the joy
of baring, laughing and kissing, her fair body
and of watching it in the lamplight.

Mouth, what are you saying?
I think you'll have alienated me
from promises such as the Greek emperor
would be honoured by, and so would the lord of Rouen
or the king who holds Tyre and, still, Betlehem:
then, I'm a real fool to ask for as much as I could repent,
since Love cannot protect,
nor can St. Genesius, a man who drives joy away.