NOTES
Six coblas unissonans of seven lines: a b b a c c d (ort, ar, or, er), lines of eight syllables. Frank 571:12. —Of the six other examples of this scheme, some are earlier than the present one.
Genre. The originality and significance of this composition, unappreciated by Fassbinder (ZRP XLIX. 190), have been recognised by Appel (ZRP L, 622) and Lewent (Literaturbl. 1931, col. 287). Consisting of a series of antitheses, the poem is an exercise in dialectical reasoning, and belongs to the genre of the devinalh or riddle, other examples of which are to be found in Appel, Prov. Chr., nos. 39–42 (cf. also Tobler, loc. cit.). Not all of these however are genuine puzzles requiring a solution from the reader: the two best-known indeed (Guillaume IX, Farai un vers de dreyt nien, ed. Jeanroy, IV; Giraut de Borneil, Un sonet fatz malvatz e bo, ed. Kolsen, 53) explain that the poet’s disarray which they describe arises from unrequited love (cf. Lewent, Modern Philology XLIII, 153). In the case of Raimbaut’s poem, the riddles posed in the various stanzas have been elucidated by its first editor, Toblet. The date of composition remains unknown.
1. “Die schwachen Frauen werden oft mit starken Mannern fertig” (Tobler). — We follow Tobler in reading Las for los of C (here ungrammatical) and cas of E (probably an error for las, which appears in this MS. in l. 36).
4. contrafort. Tobler, Appel: “Widerstand”, but cf. Levy SW I, 345.
7. The conjunction e preceding fortz in the MSS. makes the line hypermetrical.
8–9. “Nachrede und Ehre, paraula und onor” (Tobler).
16. “Saft zerquetschter unreifer Weintrauben, razim, agras, vin” (Tobler).
21. al dous parer. A rare example of a noun-infinitive with a subject.
22. e conort. Tabler: e·m c.
23. “(?) Samenkorn, gran.” (Tobler). —Tobler: quar v. (E).
25. This line is one syllable short in the MSS., and Tobler supplies be before m’acort (MSS. ma cort); possibly mais is preferable, as this word balances mais of the previous line and could easily have been omitted before ma.
29–32. “Mund mit seinem warmen und kalten Hauch, aus Phädrus bekannt” (Tobler).
33–4. “Du wirst so lange reich sein, als du verschwenden kannst; und doch wirst du auch arm sein” (Tobler).
33. ers. Tobler’s emendation of ert (C), es(?) (E).
34. Te dic color? Tobler’s emendation of MSS. tesdic olor.
36. frevols. E’s variant las f., while confirming the reading las in l. 1, makes the present line hypermetrical.
41. ric. Tobler’s emendation of the MSS. tres is justified by ll. 33–4.
|
