IX DOUS’AMIGA, NO·N PUESC MAIS (356,2)

Authenticity. Appel considers that the form, content and style of the poem all cast doubt upon Peire Rogier’s authorship, and he refers to the general unreliability of this MS in the attribution of its poems. (1) It is interesting to note, for example, that the poem immediately preceding Dous’amiga in the MS, Bels Monruels aicel que·s part de vos, (2) is wrongly attributed to Peire Rogier and that Peire’s Al pareyssen de las flors is earlier attributed to Peire Breumon.

P. Meyer had previously expressed the view that the poem’s form did not provide grounds for attributing it to Peire Rogier. (3) Appel discusses the poem’s form in some detail, with particular reference to its unusual rhyme scheme. (4) This is the only instance in the poetry of the troubadours in which the monorhyme of the scheme a a a a a b is masculine in some stanzas and feminine in others. (5) Although the latter part of the poem is lacking, there is clear evidence of an alternating pattern: the masculine rhymes appear in stanzas I, II, and IV, V and the feminine ones in stanzas III and VI.

The contents of the poem are based largely on the theme of amor de lonh, examples of which may be found elsewhere in Peire’s work. (6) The poem differs, however, from the others in two respects: firstly, while Peire Rogier normally speaks of his absence from his lady in purely general and abstract terms the poet seems, in this case, to be more specific (see ll.15-18) and to be referring to a particular occasion on which he was separated from his lady. (7) Secondly, the poem shows no sign of departing from its mood of despondency and contains no trace of the note of encouragement and optimism with which Peire normally counters his expressions of doubt and despair. These comments must, however, be subject to the general reservation that they are based not on the whole poem but only on the six stanzas available to us.

As for the style of the poem, while a feature such as the juxtaposition of opposites found in ll. 31-4 is fairly common in Peire’s work, (8) nowhere else does he include similes like the one in l. 28 or such detailed personal and natural descriptions as in ll. 21-2 and ll. 16-18 respectively. We have in fact noted above that Peire differs from his contemporaries in beginning very few of his cansos (I and II only) with a reference to the season. (9)

 

Metrical scheme. Six coblas singulars (plus three which are missing) of six lines:

a7 a7 a7 a7 a7 b7

(Frank: 17, 3). There are three other examples of this rhyme scheme but none of them has this syllable arrangement. It should also be noted that the a rhymes are masculine in the first, second, fourth and fifth stanzas and feminine in the third and sixth stanzas (see section on the authenticity of the poem).

 

Notes:

1. P. Rogier, p. 68. Pillet and Carstens (p. 312) also doubt the poem’s authenticity.

2. Appel includes in his edition of Peire Rogier (pp. 88-94) a critical edition of Bels Monruels and discusses its authorship. He states later (B. von Vent., p. 66) that it was not written by Bernart de Ventadour. Pillet and Carstens (p. 54) summarise the diverse views expressed on the authorship and leave the question open.

3. Romania, X (1881), 622.

4. Op. cit., pp. 68-9. Appel observes that the use of a small number of rhymes is a feature of popular poetry and of the work of the early troubadours. Lavaud (op. cit., p. 76) does not see here, however, any grounds for doubting Peire’s authorship. He suggests that the poet would have been delicate enough to renew his style by adopting, where appropriate, popular devices of this kind.

5. Appel (loc. cit.); Jeanroy, Poésie Lyrique, II, pp. 74-5, note 6.

6. Cf. VII. We find in VI, ll. 37-9, the idea expressed in ll. 19-20 of this poem, whereby the poet’s heart or soul remains with his lady while his body is far away. Lines 19-20 should also be compared with III, ll. 7-9 and 29, 33 for the use of sai and lai. (See section on Peire Rogier’s lady).

7. We refer above (p. 3 and p. 12) to the possibility that the account in the Vida of Peire’s enforced departure from Narbonne was based in part on the contents of this poem. Cf. l. 6 (e departen nostr’amor) and l. 23 (mal o fai qi·ns a partiz).

8. Cf. III, ll. 54-5; V, ll. 29-32; VII, ll. 1-5, 25-30, 41.

9. See section on the order of the poems.