English translation [LP]

I. I like it when the rose blooms and the fine season advances. I am taking a chance in composing a song, concerning which I am (or my heart is) in a state of uncertainty (or anxiety or danger) because of the sweet song of the nightingale I hear singing in the dark night through the orchards and the hedgerows.
II. King, you are missed by the Christians (?), since Muslims are overpowering us: there is no count or duke girding his sword who could strike better than you with a lance. I grieve for the emperor, who is missed by a great many people: there is one who weeps over it who is [in fact] delighted.
III. Your heart brightens because you have good hope: against the host of pagan ruffians, ride without hesitation; first you will capture Labadol (Badajoz?), and if you go with rectitude, they will lament as far as Morocco.
IV. I see that the reputation of the one who destroys the joy of the world is diminishing: he is the son of a base creature, who makes base proof, yet despite being cast indifferently aside he does not bow his head; he is henceforth found among the despised.
V. I do not speak for myself, I am so delighted when I see enormous happiness: «Let love fly, when it lasts long!». A man can have no guarantee [of love lasting a long time] unless he wants the flesh [to be united] with the spirit, although I can see that the body cares only for its lord to grow fat.
VI. Singers, I end the vers for you: learn of its beginning. Marcabru with great rectitude composed in like manner, and all who are ignorant of their own nature and forget the reason they are born consider him a fool.

Italian translation [lb]

I. Mi piace quando la rosa fiorisce e la bella stagione avanza. Prendo il rischio di comporre una canzone, riguardo alla quale io sono (o il mio cuore è) in uno stato di incertezza (o di ansia o di pericolo) a causa del dolce canto dell’usignolo che sento cantare nel buio della notte attraverso i giardini e le siepi.
II. Re, i cristiani hanno bisogno di voi (?), dal momento che i musulmani ci sopraffanno: non vi è nessun conte o duca cinto di spada che potrebbe colpire meglio di voi con una lancia. Mi dolgo per l’imperatore, che manca a moltissima gente: c’è chi piange per questo, ma ne è [in realtà] felice.
III. Il vostro cuore s’illumina perché avete una buona speranza: contro l’esercito dei briganti pagani, cavalcate senza esitazione; prima prenderete Labadol (Badajoz?), e se andate con rettitudine, se ne lamenteranno fino in Marocco.
IV. Vedo che la fama di colui che distrugge la gioia del mondo sta diminuendo: è il figlio di una creatura vile, che fa cattiva prova, ma nonostante sia lasciato indifferentemente da parte egli non china il capo; ormai sta fra i disprezzati.
V. Non parlo per me, io sono così felice quando vedo una grande gioia: «Che l’amore voli, quando dura a lungo!». Non si può avere garanzia [che l’amore duri a lungo] se non si vuole [tenere unita] la carne con lo spirito, anche se vedo che il corpo si preoccupa solo che il suo padrone ingrassi.
VI. Cantori, concludo il vers per voi: imparate il suo inizio. Marcabru con grande rettitudine ha composto in modo analogo, e tutti quelli che non conoscono la propria natura e dimenticano il motivo per cui sono nati lo considerano un pazzo.

Text: Fratta 1996 (IV). – Rialto 11.vii.2014.

Notes: This difficult song has been the subject of diverse interpretations: see inter alia Fratta, p. 24 and pp. 172-173, nn. 24-28 and 29-35 and Simon Gaunt, Troubadours and Irony, Cambridge 1989, pp. 106-110. I take «the one who destroys the joy of the world» (22) to be the troubadour Marcabru who inveighs against fickle carnal love (cf. 31) rather than the idle rich he castigates elsewhere; the comments in vv. 25-28 are in my view the opinions, presented ironically, of Marcabru’s detractors, and vv. 29-31 a mock adoption by the troubadour himself of their point of view, swiftly dispelled in 32-35. The ambiguous words aventura and balansa (4) combined with the evocation of the typical bird associated with love, but also the darkness of the night, suggest both the excitement and danger of earthly love which is rejected by Marcabru and, as I see it in this case, his disciple Peire d’Alvernhe. – The song was composed between August 1157, when Alfonso VII of Castile and Leon died, and the death of his son Sancho III of Castile in August 1158. Alfonso was known as emperor (12), whereas his son was only known as king (see the references in Gaunt, pp. 108 and 213, n. 18). – Line 8: the line is hypometric; in his book edition Fratta prints dots between Cristians and faillis. For various attempts to restore the line, all rejected as unsound by Fratta (though he does not specifically mention that of Roncaglia: see the Italian note on the main page of the Rialto edition), see his note on pp. 170-171. – Line 14: the reference here is probably to king Sancho VII the Wise of Navarre (1150-1194), who took advantage of Alfonso’s death to enlarge the boundaries of Navarre. – Line 19: Fratta gives ‘Labadol’ in his translation, noting (p. 171) Zenker’s conjecture (p. 28) that the reference is to Badajoz or Badalioz, south of Alcantara on the river Guadiana which was taken from the Muslims in 1158; for Roncaglia’s hypothesis that the reference is to the ‘Rey Lobo’ Ibn Mardanish, lord of Murcia and Valencia, see Fratta’s note to his Rialto edition. – Lines 26-28: these lines may suggest that Marcabru is still alive. His last securely datable song was composed in 1148-1149, though some songs possibly date from as late as 1154 (Simon Gaunt, Ruth Harvey and Linda Paterson, Marcabru: a Critical Edition, Woodbridge 2000, p. 2). However, conceivably Peire is referring to Marcabru’s reputation after his death. – Lines 32-33: the interpretation of these lines is difficult and the expression apparently elliptical. The troubadour seems to be saying that there is no guarantee that love will last unless its spiritual side is united with its carnal side (a is taken to be equivalent to ab here).

[LP, lb]

BdT    Peire d'Alvernhe    323.7

Songs referring to the crusades