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I |
1 |
When the sweet air grows bitter, |
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And the leaf falls from the branch, |
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And the birds change their chatter, |
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I also sigh and sing here |
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5 |
Of love which holds me tied and bound, |
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For I have never had it in my power. |
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II |
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Alas! I have never gained anything from love |
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Except the suffering and the anguish, |
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And nothing is so hard to win over |
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10 |
As that which I desire; (1) |
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And nothing fills me with such desire |
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As does that which I cannot have. |
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III |
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I exult for a fine jewel, |
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And nothing have I ever loved as much; |
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15 |
When I am with her, I am so overcome |
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That I cannot tell her my desire; |
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And when I go away, it seems to me |
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That I may completely lose my sense and my mind. |
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IV |
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The most beautiful woman ever seen |
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20 |
Is not worth a glove compared to her; |
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When all the world grows dark, |
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It is radiant where she is; |
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I will pray to God that he may still give her to me, |
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Or that I may see her going to bed. |
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V |
25 |
I shake, shiver, and tremble |
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For her love, asleep and awake; |
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I am so afraid of failing, |
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That I don’t dare think of how to ask for her; (2) |
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But I will serve her for two or three years, |
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30 |
And then perhaps she will know the truth. |
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VI |
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I do not live or die or am cured, |
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Or feel pain, and yet it is great, |
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For I can guess nothing about her love, (3) |
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I do not know when or if I shall have it; |
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35 |
For in her is all the mercy |
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That can raise me up or cast me down. |
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VII |
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I love it when she drives me crazy |
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And makes me gape, dreaming; (4) |
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I love it when she mocks me |
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40 |
Or makes fun of me openly or behind my back; |
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For after the bad will come the good |
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Soon, if I succeed in pleasing her. (5) |
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VIII |
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If she does not want me, I wish I had died |
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The day she took me in command; |
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45 |
Alas! how sweetly she killed me |
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When she gave me her look of love; |
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For she confined me in such a way |
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That I wish to see no other. |
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IX |
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I am very anxious, and rejoice so, |
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50 |
For if I fear or flatter her, |
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Through her shall I be false or true, |
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In the right or full of deceit, |
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Completely base or courtly, |
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In suffering or in happiness. |
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X |
55 |
But despite whom it may please or weigh upon, |
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She may, if she wishes, retain me. |
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XI |
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Cercamon says: it will be difficult |
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For a man who despairs of love to be courtly. |
