Marcabru (293.16)

293.16

		Marcabru
		D’aiso laus Dieu
		e Saint Andreu:
		c’om non es de maior albir
		qu’ieu soi, so·m cug,
5		e no·n fauc brug,
		e volrai vos lo perque dir.

		C’asatz es lag
		s’intras en plag
		don no sabretz a lutz issir,
10		e non es bo
		qui·n quer razo
		e no la sabetz defenir.

		De ginhos sens
		soi si manens
15		que molt sui greus az escarnir;
		lo pa del fol
		caudet e mol
		mange e lais lo meu frezir.

		Tant qant li dur
20		li pliu e·il jur
		com no·m puosca de lui partir,
		e quan li faill,
		mus e badaill,
		e prenha del meu lo dezir!

25		Qu’ieu jutg a dreg:
		que·l fols foleg
		e·l savis se gart al partir;
		qu’e dobl’es fatz
		e dessenatz
30		qui·s lais’al fol enfoletir.

		D’estonc breto
		e de basto
		no sap hom plus, ni d’escremir,
		qu’ieu fier autrui
35		e·m gart de lui,
		e no·s sap del mieu colp cubrir.

		En l’autrui brueill
		cas cora·m vueill,
		e fauc mos dos canetz glatir,
40		e·l ters saüz
		eis de raüs,
		bautz e aficatz per ferir.

		Mos alos es
		en tal deves
45		res mas ieu no se·n pot jauzir;
		aisi es claus
		d’empeis ne vaus
		que nuils no lo·m pot envazir.

		De pluzors sens
50		soi ples e prens,
		de cent colors per meils cauzir;
		foc porte sai
		et aigua lai
		ab que sai la flam’escantir.

55		Cascuns si gart,
		c’ab aital art
		mi fa ssa viure e murir;

		qu’ieu soi l’auzels
		c’als estornels
60		fauc los mieus auzeletz noirir.

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

Mss: A (30r), C (172r-v), E (153), I (118v), K (104v), T (204v-205r), d (304v-305r).

Previous editions: Jean-Marie-Lucien Dejeanne, Poésies complètes du troubadour Marcabru, Toulouse 1909, p. 65 (XVI); Aurelio Roncaglia, «Il gap di Marcabruno», Studi medievali, 17, 1951, 46-70; reprinted in La critica del testo, a cura di Alfredo Stussi, Bologna 1985 (Strumenti di filologia romanza), pp. 77-100, second edition with the title Fondamenti di critica testuale, Bologna 1998, pp. 101-129; Simon Gaunt, Ruth Harvey and Linda Paterson, Marcabru: A Critical Edition, Cambridge, D. S. Brewer, 2000, p. 209.

Versification: a4 a4 b8 c4 c4 b8 (Frank: 193.7). Nine coblas singulars with two tornadas (Frank sees X and XI as one complete stanza) and the ‘b’ rhyme constant. The versification could alternatively be seen as a8 b8 c8 b8 with internal rhymes at ‘a’ and ‘c’. This form is the so-called versus tripertitus caudatus.

Notes: The identity of the first-person speaker has been much discussed. We see it as drawing on contemporary representations of carnality linked to the insipiens of Psalm 52 and the wicked and boastful deceitful speaker of Psalm 51, the poem forming the first part of a sequence Marcabru BdT 293.16 - Audric 293.20 - Marcabru 293.43 (see the Marcabru edition, pp. 276 and 530). Audric may have been a real patron, or a dramatic construct.

[LP]

Foreword

BdT Marcabru