Lark in the Morning
In my typical longwinded fashion, I got a little lost in my thoughts on the Troubadours. While I recognize they are different types of poems with different subject matter, I was struck by the anthologists decision to open and close the collection the way they did. While the chronology of the two authors makes sense, with the first being the quintessential original Troubadour (Guillem de Peitus, who lived from 1071-1127) and the last author the quintessential final Troubadour (Guiraut Riquier, who lived 1230-1292). The first poem appropriately focuses on beginnings of a love and the last on the end of a career. But, while the Troubadours focused the subjects of their songs on fin’ amor— or the interplay of sentiment, power, politics, and eroticism in forming love— only the first poem really discusses that (4). The final poem is more a tribute to the Riquier’s career and the Troubadour movement. Though it is no leap to say that the lyrics of these Troubadours reflected the cultural experiences of their day, examining the poems of Guillem de Peitus and Guiraut Riquier offers insight of the role of art in society.
One of Guillem de Peitus’ earlier poems and the first in the anthology, “A New Song for New Days”, beckoned in the new era of the Troubadours. Peitus was already a member of the landed aristocracy, however, making his experiments with form and content less risky. This poem employs natural and spry imagery to incite a playful tone. Everything about the poem is bright as it jokes about new loves, seduction, and sex. The first stanza plays with these ideas of nature and rebirth where everything is new— new days, new songs, etc. There is a feeling that everyone gets what they deserve, for “it’s only fair a man should find/ his peace with what he’s sought so long”
The next three stanzas depict the game of love. The narrator waits for his lady to embrace him. Portrays the torments of the game of love and their relations ambivalence. Again utilizing natural imagery with their love as a hawthorne bough, Peitus describes the rain and shine of a relationship, with all the fights and make ups. It is almost as though it is all worth it when “we two made peace in our long war” so that he can ultimately “get my hands beneath her clothes!” He talked his way into her pants and jokes he no longer has to deal with that because “we’ve got the bread, we’ve got the knife” I took that to mean all that’s left is to dig in and physically enjoy one another (I was really unsure about this, though, does anyone have any better ideas?). This message of sexual gratification is not unusual for the time, but the statement is stated assertively in this poem and reflects the less vocalized sexual aspects of courtly love.
Unlike Guillem de Peitus, Guiraut Riquier was one of the last great members of the Troubadour tradition, living from 1230-1292. One of his better known poems, “It Would Be Best If I Refrained From Singing,” waved the Troubadour tradition out. While Guillem de Peitus had the good fortune of being landed aristocracy and many subsequent Troubadours saw a rise in patronage, by the thirteenth century patronage was dropping off in response to the political unrest and the fall of Southern France. There was a lot less money around and few aristocrats could afford to patronize the arts. Thus, the Troubadours began to fall off and Riquier was left watching the golden era fall.
An appropriate farewell to the book, this final poem recognizes the end of the Troubadours. Despite his love for song writing and art, Riquier dismisses himself as “born behind my time.” A reference to the rest of the movement, Riquier recognizes that songs should “spring from gladness,” but deems himself incapable. Instead, Riquier spends the first two stanzas wallowing in his grief reflecting on his past, present, and inevitably tumultuous future, deciding he has “every cause to cry”.
The third and fourth stanzas look outside of Riquier’s own experience to condemn the course the world has taken. Riquier views the world as losing its purity and becoming “mostly lies.” Recognizing the Troubadour tradition to be impossible in this climate because the world is “far from love,” Riquier describes the social climate that makes the Troubadour tradition impossible. With the political turmoil, the nation has moved away from God, love, and even happiness. Everyone focused on power. Riquier leaves us with the lasting thought that France abandoned the golden age of the Troubadours and the new and lively world featured in Peitus’ poem in search of power.
Consequently, as first and last poems, the anthologists did a lovely job tracing the rise and fall of the movement. As readers, the social climate becomes evident.
Lyrics Before the Lyric: Course Blog 