Rialto

293.11

 

Marcabru

 

 

 

 
Bel m’es qan li rana chanta
e·l sucs pueia per la rusca,
per qe·l flors e·l fueilhs e·l busca
4 e·l frugz reviu e la planta,
e·l rosinhols crid’e bram’a
sa par q’a per joi conqisa,
ples d’orgueilh qar il no sen
8 freg ni gell ni glaz ni bisa.
 
Non aus ço qe m’atalanta
dir d’una gen qe·s fa chusca
cui malvestatz pren e frusca,
12 q’entre mil non trueb qaranta
de cells cui proeza ama;
q’en un chastell l’an azisa,
e trazon i ben a cen
16 peiriers cill qi l’an reqisa.
  
Pres es le castells e·l sala;
macan la tor e l’artilha,
on joys e jovens essilha;
20 son jujat a pena mala,
q’us qecs crida: «Fuec e flamma!
Via inz e sia prisa!
Degolem joi e joven,
24 e proeça sia aucisa!»
 
Seinhor, ben hi a gran tala
si mor ses fill o ses filha!
Retengam per meravilha
28 lo bec o l’ongla o l’ala,
qar de pauc albr’eis grantz rama,
qan longa pugn’i es misa,
per q’ieu n’esper e n’aten
32 lo frut aprop l’a[r]semisa.
 
No·n vueilh far paraula lonia:
preza es li francha causa,
e non troba fin ni pauza
36 si no·s met reclus’o monia.
E pos chascus la derama
e las denz li frainh e briça,
ieu no·l trueb mas un paren
40 de Portogal tro en Friza.
 
Duc e rei senes menssonia
ll’an primier la boca clausa,
q’ill fan de pauc fag gran nauza,
44 qar donars lur fai vergoinha:
tan tem qecs qe failla·l trama
per q’en lurs cortz non es visa
copa ni enap d’argen,
48 mantells vairs ni pena griza.
 
Moilheratz q’autrui con grata
ben pot saber qe·l sieus pescha
e mostra con hom li mescha
52 q’ab eis lo sieu fust lo bata;
e aura·n tort si s’en clama,
qe drech e raços deviza:
car deu comprar qi car ven,
56 asegon la lei de Piza.
 
D’aissi nais l’avols barata,
ric viu-mort-qe Dieus descresca! –
q’us no·n fai conseilh ni tresca.
60 Non sia lauzenia plata
cell qe la mainad’afama.
Cest vest la blancha camiza
e fai son seinhor sufren,
64 e ten si dons a sa giza.
 
Alegretz, folls, en qal giza
cuias far d’avol valen,
ni de gonella camisa?
 
68 Antz cos por levan cazen,
qal gonella qal camiza.

 

 

 

Text: Gaunt, Harvey and Paterson, 2000 (XI). – Rialto 2.i.2003.

Mss.: C (172v-173r), M (141v-142r), R (29v), a1 (363-64).

Previous editions: Jean-Marie-Lucien Dejeanne, Poésies complètes du troubadour Marcabru, Toulouse 1909, p. 42 (XI); Simon Gaunt, Ruth Harvey and Linda Paterson, Marcabru: A Critical Edition, Cambridge, D. S. Brewer, 2000, p. 147.

Versification: a7’ b7’ b7’ a7’ c7’ d7’ e7 d7’ (Frank 649:1), with one tornada of three and a second (in M only) of two lines; unicum, coblas doblas but with ‘c’ ‘d’ ‘e’ constant.

Notes: This piece is most probably a response to Alegret’s praise of Alfonso VII of Castile in Ara pareisson ll’aubre sec (BdT 17.2) and is likely to date from some time after 1137-38, when Marcabru’s hope of patronage from Alfonso, voiced in BdT 293.22, had been disappointed (compare BdT 293.23). Even if the allusion to the ‘law / custom of Pisa’ is topical – and it may simply mean the ‘law of trade’ – it is not possible to identify which of Pisa’s many commercial rivalries and struggles during the course of the twelfth century might be indicated.

[LP]

Foreword

BdT    Marcabru