The Democratic Republic of Poetry
CercamonTroubadoursProsodyHelpLinks

Ab lo temps qe fai refreschar
Lo segle e·ls pratz reverdezir
Vueil un novel chant comenzar
D'un amor cui am e dezir;
Mas tan s'es de mi loignada
Q'ieu non la puesc aconseguir,
Ni de mos digz no s'agrada.

Ja mai res no·m pot conortar,
Abanz mi laissarai morir,
Car m'an fag de mi donz sebrar
Lauzenjador, cui Deus azir!
Las! tan l'aurai desirada
Que per lei plaing, plor e sospir,
E vau cum res enaurada.

Aqesta don m'auzetz chantar
Es plus bella q'ieu no sai dir;
Fresc'a color e bel esgar
Et es blancha ses brunezir;
Oc, e non es vernisada,
Ni om de leis non pot mal dir,
Tant es fin' et esmerada.

E sobre tota·s deu prezar
De dig ver, segon mon albir,
D'ensegnamen e de parlar,
C'anc non volc son amic traïr;
Et ieu fols fui la vegada
Can crezei ren q'en auzis dir,
Ni·l fis so don fos irada.

Anc ieu de lei no·m volc clamar,
Q'enquer, si·s vol, me pot jauzir,
Et a ben poder de donar
D'aqo don me pot enrequir;
No posc far lonja durada,
Qe·l manjar en pert e·l durmir,
Car no m'es plus aizinada.

Amors es douza a l'intrar
Et amara al departir,
Q'en un jorn vos fara plorar,
Et autre jogar e burdir,
Q'eu sai d'amor enseigniada,
On plus la cujava servir,
Ilh s'es vas mi cambiada.

Messatges, vai, si Deus ti guar,
E sapchas ab mi donz furmir,
Qu'eu non puesc lonjamen estar
De sai vius ni de lai guerir,
Si josta mi despoliada
Non la puesc baizar e tenir
Dins cambra encortinada.
With the season giving youth back
to the world and verdancy back to the lawns,
I want to begin a new song
about a love I love and desire;
but she has strayed so much away from me
that I cannot reach her
and my words don't agree with her.

Nothing can comfort me anymore,
thus I shall let myself die,
for slanderers have made me part
from my woman – may god curse them!
Alas! I shall have longed for her so much
that I weep and cry and sigh for her
and go like a senseless thing.

This woman you hear me singing about
is so fair I'm at loss for words;
fresh of colour and fair of regard,
she is of a white which doesn't darken;
yes, and she isn't painted,
nor is there anyone who can speak ill of her,
so noble and refined she is.

And one should praise her above all,
in my opinion, for her sincere words,
her learning and her eloquence,
for she never wanted to betray her friend
and I was a fool the day
that I believed things I had heard about her
and did that which would annoy her.

I don't ever want to deplore her,
for, still, if she wants, she can make me happy,
and it is in her power to give
that which would make me rich;
I cannot resist for long,
for it takes away my food and sleep
for she is out of my reach.

Love is sweet when it comes
and bitter when it goes,
for one day it'll make you weep
and another scamper and cheer,
for I know about learned love:
the more I believed I was serving her
the more she turned away from me.

Messenger, go, and may god keep you,
and may you know how to please my lady,
for I cannot stay alive for long
here nor resist down there
unless, after having undressed her,
I can kiss and hold her
in a curtained room.