Elias de Barjols (132.4)

132.4

		Elias de Barjols
		I.
		Ben deu hom son bon senhor
		amar e servir
		et honrar, et obezir
4		a tota s’onor;
		e de mal senhor ses merce,
		quant ponha·ls sieus en desfaire,
		se deu hom qui pot estraire,
8		quant sos servizis pro no·lh te.

		II.
		Atressi·s deu hom d’Amor
		per bon dreg partir,
		quant hom no s’en pot jauzir
12		ni·l val ni·l acor;
		per so·m part forsatz e·m recre
		d’Amor, cuy fuy mercejaire,
		que anc jorn no·m volc ben faire
16		ni no ac chauzimen de me.

		III.
		Partitz me suy de l’error
		en que·m sol tenir
		Amors, e del lonc dezir,
20		don non sen dolor;
		e sitot m’ai dels mals guanre
		e dels bes no·m lauzi guaire,
		sos dans m’es greus a retraire:
24		aitan li port de bona fe!

		IV.
		Jamais semblant trichador
		no·m poiran ausir
		ni ja no·m faran languir
28		huelh gualïador:
		quar folhs es qui sos folhs huelhs cre
		mayntas vetz, so m’es vejaire,
		e fols qui trop es guardaire
32		d’aisso que no·l tanh ni·l cove.

		V.
		Al valent emperador
		vuelh mostrar e dir
		que totz met Dieus en azir
36		mas son servidor;
		e pus Dieus l’a donat de que,
		sierva·l a dreg l’emperaire,
		qu’om del mon no pot plus traire
40		mas tant quant i fara de be.

		VI.
		Comtessa Beatris, gran be
		aug de vos dir e retraire,
		quar del mon etz la bellaire,
44		de las autras dompnas qu’om ve.

		VII.
		En Blacas, jes no se recre
		de son fin pretz enan traire,
		ans val mais que no sol faire,
48		e melhuyr’e creys so que te.

English translation [LP]

I. A man ought certainly to love and serve and honour his good lord and be obedient to his whole domain; but from a bad, merciless lord, when he drives his own to destruction, a man who is able [to do so] should withdraw, when his service brings him no advantage.
II. Similarly a man should distance himself from love, when he can have no joy of it and it is of no use or help to him; so perforce I quit and abandon love whose supplicant I was, since it has never wished to do me good and has never shown me clemency.
III. I have distanced myself from the error in which love used to hold me, and the long desire, from which I feel no [more] pain; and although I have an abundance of ills and am hardly satisfied with good things, what is to its detriment is hard for me to expose: this much good faith do I show it!
IV. Deceiving appearances will not be able to be my death, nor will treacherous eyes ever make me languish: for a man is a fool repeatedly to believe his foolish eyes, it seems to me, and a fool to gaze on what is for him unfitting or unsuitable.
V. To the noble emperor I wish to declare and announce that God disfavours all but His servant; and since God has given him the means, may the emperor rightly serve Him (or: serve Him justly), for a man can take no more from the world than the good that he will do in it.
VI. Countess Beatrice, I hear great good spoken and recounted of you, for you are the most beautiful in the world of all other ladies seen there.
VII. Sir Blacatz never fails to increase his noble reputation, but rather is worth more than ever, and improves and increases what he holds.

Text: Giorgio Barachini, Rialto 22.vi.2014.

Note: The song postdates the arrival of Beatrice of Savoy at the court of Provence in 1219-1220 to marry Raimon Berenguer V (v. 41) and the coronation of Frederick II in Rome on 22 November 1220 (v. 33), and precedes the death of Blacatz in 1236 (v. 45), while the allusions to the crusade in stanza V indicate that it also precedes Frederick’s departure on crusade in 1227 and 1228. For further details of attempts to narrow down the date of composition see Barachini’s notes.

[LP, lb]

BdT Elias de Barjols 132.4

Songs referring to the crusades