English translation [LP]

I. I never died from love or anything else, but my life is as good as death when I see the creature I most love and desire doing nothing but hurt and illtreat me. I am as good as dead, but what is even worse is that shortly we shall be old, both she and I; and if she wastes my youth and hers like this, I am unhappy for mine, but a hundred times more for hers.
II. I have never seen such an extraordinary dispute: when I can do or say anything to please or delight her, I never wish to engage in any other occupation, yet everything I do seems trivial and frivolous to her, so that through mercy or the love of God I can find no pity in her over this; she is indisputably wrong and guilty in her treatment of me.
III. Good lady, you can easily kill your rightful vassal, if it pleases you; but you will make yourself scorned by the people and what is more you will be guilty of criminal sin. Your vassal I certainly am, for I do not consider myself my own, but a vassal with a bad lord is right to abandon his fief; and a rich and powerful man is worth very little when he loses his followers, as was evident in the case of Darius, king of Persia.
IV. Against my will I love exclusively and entirely the one who does not deign to see or hear me. What then shall I do, since I cannot leave her, and pity or mercy are of no avail? I shall keep to the custom of the importunate pilgrim who begs and begs, for from the cold snow is born the crystal from which one derives burning fire: and through their efforts the good triumph through endurance.
V [CLMRca]. What then shall I do? I shall put up with suffering like the tormented captive who has to bear it if he is ill-treated, but I should show gratitude to anyone who were to do me good as a loyal friend. And if I had wished, lady, to take another fief, I should soon have won honour and pleasure; but no-one but you can be pleasing to me and I hope for nothing but perfect joy.
V [PSUc]. I shall therefore force myself to this extent that I intend tranquilly to endure the good and bad; but I should certainly know how to give thanks fittingly if she helped me in the manner of a sincere friend. For if I had wished, lady, to follow another path, I should quickly have won honour and pleasure; but without you I cannot be pleasing, and I hope for nothing but perfect joy.
VI. Therefore I have given myself up to apathy, like the coward who forgets himself as he flees and dares not turn round and cannot defend himself when his mortal enemies are pursuing him. I know no consolation but that of the Jew: if someone hurts me, he is instantly hurting himself. Just like the one who defends himself blindly, I have lost all strength and valour.
VII. I direct my song over there [in the Holy Land] to the heavenly King whom we must all honour and obey, and it is needful that we should go and serve Him there where we shall win spiritual life; for the Saracens, faithless Canaanites, have stolen His kingdom and destroyed His people, and have seized the Cross and the Sepulchre: we should all feel great terror at this.
VIII. Count of Poitiers, I complain of you to God and God likewise complains to me, for you have betrayed both of us very badly, Him over his Cross and me over my money; so you ought to be very sorry for it.
IX. Count of Poitiers, fair Sir, you and I are prized by everyone else, you for doing good and I for saying so gracefully.

Italian translation [lb]

I. Non sono mai morto per amore o per altro, ma la mia vita è come morire quando vedo la creatura che più amo e desidero non fare altro che ferirmi e maltrattarmi. Sono come morto, ma mi pesa ancor di più che a breve saremo vecchi, sia lei che io, e se lei spreca la mia giovinezza e la sua in questo modo, io sono infelice per la mia, ma cento volte di più per la sua.
II. Non ho mai visto un conflitto così straordinario: quando posso fare o dire qualcosa per compiacerla o dilettarla, non vorrei impegnarmi in nessun’altra occupazione, invece tutto quello che faccio le sembra banale e insignificante, così che per la misericordia e l’amore di Dio, non trovo nessuna pietà in lei a questo proposito; è indiscutibilmente sbagliato e colpevole il suo atteggiamento nei miei confronti.
III. Buona signora, potete facilmente uccidere il vostro legittimo vassallo, se vi fa piacere; ma vi farete disprezzare dalla gente e ciò che è peggio sarete colpevole di un peccato criminale. Certamente sono vostro vassallo, perché io non mi considero mio, ma un vassallo di un cattivo signore ha il diritto di abbandonare il suo feudo, e un uomo ricco e potente vale ben poco quando perde i suoi seguaci, come è stato evidente nel caso di Dario, re di Persia.
IV. Indipendentemente dalla mia volontà amo esclusivamente ed interamente colei che non si degna di vedermi o ascoltarmi. Che farò dunque, dal momento che non posso lasciarla, e pietà e misericordia non mi aiutano? Manterrò l’attitudine del pellegrino importuno che mendica e mendica, perché dalla fredda neve nasce il cristallo da cui si ricava il fuoco che brucia: e attraverso i loro sforzi i buoni trionfano sopportando.
V [CLMRca]. Che farò quindi? Continuerò a tollerare la sofferenza come il prigioniero torturato che deve sopportare i maltrattamenti, ma sarei grato a chiunque mi facesse del bene come un amico fedele. E se avessi voluto, signora, prendere un altro feudo, avrei guadagnato subito onore e piacere; ma nessun’altra tranne voi mi può rendere contento e non spero altro che la gioia perfetta.
V [PSUc]. Mi devo dunque sforzare ancora a tal punto da voler sopportare docilmente il bene e il male, ma saprei certamente ringraziarla degnamente se lei mi aiutasse come un amico sincero. Perché se avessi voluto, signora, seguire un’altra strada, avrei guadagnato subito onore e piacere, ma senza di voi non posso essere contento, e non spero altro che la gioia perfetta.
VI. Perciò mi sono abbandonato all’apatia, come il codardo che fugge senza controllo e non osa girarsi e non può difendersi quando i suoi nemici mortali lo inseguono. Non conosco altra consolazione che quella dell’ebreo: se qualcuno mi fa del male, allo stesso tempo fa del male a se stesso. Proprio come colui che si difende ciecamente, ho perso ogni forza e valore.
VII. Rivolgo il mio canto laggiù [in Terra Santa] al Re celeste al quale dobbiamo tutti rendere onore e obbedire, ed è necessario che andiamo a servirlo là dove guadagneremo la vita spirituale; perché i saraceni, cananei infedeli, hanno rubato il suo regno e distrutto il suo popolo, e si sono impadroniti della croce e del sepolcro: dovremmo tutti provare un grande terrore per questo.
VIII. Conte di Poitiers, mi lamento di voi con Dio, e Dio si lamenta allo stesso modo con me, perché ci avete traditi entrambi in modo molto vergognoso, lui per la sua croce e me per i miei soldi; perciò dovete esserne molto rattristato.
IX. Conte di Poitiers, signore giusto, voi ed io siamo apprezzati da tutti, voi perché fate del bene e io perché lo racconto con grazia.

Text: Avalle 1960 (XXXVIII). – Rialto 29.ix.2013.

Mss.: A 95v, B 60v, C 31v, D 22r, Dc 248v, F 17v, G 41v, I 42r, K 29v, L 16r, M 58r, N 88v (89v), P 21v, Q 68v, R 46v, S 9, U 102v, X 85v, b3 6, c 64r (62r old numbering), ca 27 (according to Avalle), e 7, f 57v (52v), α 29195 (st. IV) and 33736 (st. I) (= Le «Breviari d’amor» de Matfre Ermengaud, ed. Peter T. Ricketts, 5 voll., Leiden 1976, vol. V). Cited in N2 no. 7. It was in the songbook of Bernart Amoros: see Giulio Bertoni, Il Canzoniere provenzale di Bernart Amoros (Sezione Riccardiana), Fribourg 1911, p. 16 and further details in BEdT for the present text. In R a second version of st. III has been inserted by a 14th-c. hand in the upper margin and has mainly disappeared following the trimming of the ms.

Critical editions: Karl Bartsch, Peire Vidals Lieder, Berlin 1857, p. 67 (XXXV); Joseph Anglade, Les Poésies de Peire Vidal, Paris 1923, 2nd ed. 1966, p. 76 (XXIV); Reinhilt Richter, Die Troubadourzitate im Breviari d’Amor. Kritische Ausgabe der provenzalischen Überlieferung, Modena 1976, pp. 356-357 (critical edition of α); d’Arco Silvio Avalle, Peire Vidal, Poesie, 2 voll., Milan and Naples 1960, vol. II, p. 333 (XXXVIII).

Other editions: Carl August Friedrich Mahn, Die Werke der Troubadours, in provenzalischer Sprache, 4 voll., Berlin 1846-1886, vol. I, p. 239; Samuel Rosenberg, Margaret Switten and Gérard Le Vot, Songs of the troubadours and trouvères: an anthology of poems and melodies, New York and London 1998, p. 110; Veronica Fraser, The Songs of Peire Vidal. Translation and Commentary, New York etc., 2006, p. 190 (Avalle’s text).

Versification: a10 b10 b10 a10 c10 c10 d10 d10 (Frank 577:37), -al, -ir, -ieu, -en. Seven coblas unissonans with two tornadas, one of five-lines and one of three (Frank, two three-line tornadas, as in Anglade’s edition). The versification is of a very common type; ten other pieces imitate Peire’s versification and rhymes.

Melody: Three mss., GRX, contain different tunes to the piece, with the structure A B C D E C’ F G (= R) - A B C D E F G H (= GX).

Notes: The song was probably composed in Occitania (Languedoc-Provence) and dates from after the fall of Jerusalem on 3 October 1187 (vv. 54-55), after Richard the Lionheart’s commitment to go on crusade as soon as he heard the news at the end of October of that year, and before his coronation on 3 September 1189 (the tornadas). The first tornada reproaches Richard for not yet having set out, which he did eventually on 4 July 1190; the second tornada, found only in ms. B, suggesting that he has now done so, was doubtless added later (see Avalle, II, pp. 339-340). – Line 12: it make more sense to place a comma at the end of this line, rather than a full stop as in Anglade and Avalle. The extraordinary matter for dispute or state of affairs is that the troubadour is totally dedicated to her, yet she is cold and pitiless. Avalle makes no comment; Anglade translates plag as ‘conduite’, but it is hard to see how this can be justified. See PD ‘querelle, différend; procès; objet d’un procès; question, affaire; convention, arrangement, accord, traité; résolution; propos, discours?; réunion?’. – Line 24: the reference is to Darius’s vassals sacrificed to the ambitions of his serfs (see Avalle’s note, II, p. 335). – Line 31: for this common medieval belief see Avalle’s note, II, p. 336. – Line 42: Anglade «qui ne pense même pas à fuir», Fraser «who no longer cares to flee», but the point is surely that the coward is fleeing and loses control of himself so much that he fails to defend himself. I have found no other example of s’oblidar a + infinitive, and understand al fugir, along with mss. CGMRUf. – Line 53, Caninieu: a barbarian people of the East, so-called with a fanciful deformation or semantic crossing of Chananaeus and canis (Avalle, II, pp. 338-339).

[LP, lb]

BdT    Peire Vidal

Songs referring to the crusades