English translation [LP]

I. Singing becomes painful for me when I remember Sir Barral, and since I care no more about love, I do not know how or of what to sing; but everyone is asking for a song and they do not care about the topic: so I need to make it anew, with the words and the melody; and since without love I am forced to sing through a debt of folly, my song will be excellent even if it is neither bad nor good.
II. Lovers are all the same, and likewise the greedy rich, for with searing pain they constantly diminish their joy the more they have of it: they are like a window that grows smaller if it is leaned against; the more a man captures what he is hunting, the more he is motivated to pursue the hunt; so I consider as better than a king or an emperor the man who vanquishes both those bad qualities which vanquish most of the barons.
III. It would be good if people valued God as much as themselves, and good as much as wickedness! But people value what is worthless and consider their advantage as harm; so I do not dare speak in song of what is to your advantage, for this does not please the world, nor do I believe it will like anyone who tells it of anything that is not to their detriment; but yet I can speak of the dishonour if the Turks are conquered or brought low by each other, since all the conquered conquer us.
IV. They certainly do conquer us, since we make no attempt to redeem the mortal shame, and if we were loyal it would bring us to great honour; for it was a courtly device of God that [even] the rich, who prove more fragile than ice if they are called to self-denial, might find forgiveness; however, God has taken into his service many of those who conquer in a praiseworthy way, and whose confession would not please Him if this had not been the case.
V. So what are our barons doing, or the English king, God save him? Does he think he has finished his day’s work? It would be a really ugly trick if he goes to the expense and another wins the spoils: for the Emperor is trying to see how God might recover his kingdom! I think above all that he will help there if God gives him back his lands: it is fitting, the gift is so rich, that this should be the reward.
VI. [I advise the French king to make amends for his return, for I do not consider it a good thing; so I say, if he goes to help there now because it is needful, he should not be afraid, and if he does not go now that it is time, I say that he is doubly shamed.]
VII. Sir Aziman pleases me much, and I value his worth most highly because merit and spending died with Sir Barral my lord just as if they had never existed.
VIII. Sir Tostemps, I and you are joyful because of each other.

Italian translation [PS]

I. Cantare mi diventa dolore quando mi sovviene di don Barral, e poiché non m’importa più d’amore, non so come né di che canti; ma ciascuno richiede una canzone e non gli importa dell’argomento: cosi occorre che la faccia di nuovo, come le parole e la musica; e poiché, costretto [e] senza amore canto per debito di follia, il mio canto sarà comunque importante, sebbene non sia cattivo né buono.
II. Gli amanti si somigliano tutti ed egualmente i ricchi avidi, che con dolore di cuore le loro gioie diminuiscono sempre quanto più ne hanno: perché esse sono paragonabili a una finestra che si rimpicciolisce se ci si colloca [qualcosa]; quanto più uno raggiunge ciò che persegue, tanto più ha motivo di [continuare a] inseguire; per cui stimo migliore di re e imperatore colui che vince ambedue quei cattivi atteggiamenti che vincono la maggior parte dei baroni.
III. Sarebbe cosa buona se si apprezzasse Dio come sé, e il bene come il male! Ma si stima ciò che non vale e si ritiene un danno il proprio vantaggio; per cui non oso dire nel mio canto a voi il vostro vantaggio, perché non sta bene al mondo, né chiedo che gli piaccia, che gli si dica altro se non il suo male; e tuttavia posso dire il disonore se i turchi sono vinti fra loro e caduti in disgrazia, poiché del tutto vinti vincono noi.
IV. Ben ci vincono, poiché non cerchiamo di riscattare la mortale vergogna; e se noi fossimo leali ci tornerebbe a grande onore; perché fu un cortese espediente di Dio che trovassero perdono [anche] i potenti, i quali diventano più fragili del ghiaccio se si chiede loro astinenza; tuttavia, fra coloro che lodevolmente conquistano Dio ne ha presi al suo servizio taluni la cui confessione non gli piacerebbe affatto se ciò non si verificasse.
V. Dunque, i nostri baroni che fanno e il re inglese, che Dio lo salvi? Pensa di aver compiuto il suo incarico? Si consumerà un inganno davvero laido se egli fa la spesa [oppure: lo sforzo] e un altro fa la presa: cosicché l’imperatore si adopera affinché Dio recuperi la sua terra! per primo credo che questi ci venga in aiuto se Dio gli rende il suo onore: è ben giusto che, essendo tanto ricco il dono, altrettanto lo sia la ricompensa.
VI. Al re francese consiglio che rimedi al ritorno, che non lo consideri una cosa buona; per cui dico, se ora che serve ci porta lì soccorso, che non ne abbia paura, e se non ci va ora che è tempo dico che è infamato doppiamente.
VII. Don Aziman mi aggrada molto, e molto ne stimo il valore perché col mio signore don Barral sono morti pregio e larghezza, così come se non ci fosse [stato] nient’altro.
VIII. Don Tostemps, io e voi siamo l’uno per l’altro gioiosi.

Text: Squillacioti 1999 (XIV). – Rialto 11.iii.2014.

Notes: Squillacioti dates the song to the period between April and July 1195, with the troubadour urging Richard the Lionheart and Philip Augustus to follow the example of the emperor Henry VI who had vowed on 2 April 1195, in Bari, to depart on a fresh expedition to the Holy Land, following renewed pressure from the Turks after the end of the third crusade. The terminus ante quem he signals as 19 July of that year, when the Christians suffered a major defeat at Alarcos, since the song makes no mention of an event which otherwise provoked a strong reaction among the troubadours, including Folquet himself in BdT 155.15; in addition, there is no mention of war between Richard and Philip, who were observing a truce between November 1194 and July 1195 (see Squillacioti’s edition, § 1.3.1.10, pp. 39-40). The allusion in vv. 61-62 is likely to be to Philip’s return from the Holy Land in 1191 when he abandoned the crusade in the middle of the campaign, leaving Richard to take on its entire burden: see the note in Squillacioti’s edition, p. 336. – Line 1: Viscount Raimon Jaufré III of Marseille, known as Barral, died in 1192. – Line 10: Squillacioti understands the ‘foolish debt’ to refer to the folly of those who, not going on crusade, constrain the troubadour to sing, demanding a sort of tribute from him (see the note on p. 333 of his edition). – Line 23: Stronski and Squillacioti do not appear to spell out what the ‘two bad qualities’ are: greed is obviously one, and perhaps the other is the persistent pursuit of what only brings dissatisfaction.

[LP, lb]

BdT    Folquet de Marselha    155.7

Songs referring to the crusades