Blog Post #9: Ventadorn's: You've Asked, My Lords, For Song

Blog Post #9: 

Ventadorn’s You’ve Asked, My Lords, for Song examines Bernart’s desire and passion for his unnamed woman. In the first stanza, he exclaims how “[he’s] lost the heart to try” when referring to his duties as a singer for the lords he serves under (85). He is forced to shirk away from his duties because of his obsession with his unnamed love interest that “fills [his] thoughts with care” (85). His description of his lack of effort in his job as a having “lost the heart” directly establishes how heavy set his desires for this woman are becoming. A lost heart describes how this woman has perhaps run away with it as that is exactly what consumes his mind. When describing his interactions with others he explains how “while she invests my mind, I’d never hear at all” (85). The description continues by describing the woman as “[snaring] the heart out of my breast” (85). The description of his desire for this woman is showing a similarity to a debilitating disease, slowly infecting and shutting several different organs and functions. He is expressing his love for this woman as something parasitic and is taking control and damaging his own health. The use of the “snare” describes somewhat of a violent action of ripping out the heart from the chest and is possibly a description of the aggressive demeanor of this woman he is so passionate about. In the latter half of the poem Bernart proclaims he’ll “not renounce [his] love for troubles or love’s pains” (85). The connotation is clear: no matter the degree to which this woman damages his mind or his body, he will forever be obsessed with her and will continue to fall into her trap. The “troubles” or “pains” are meaningless, no matter how damaging, are a worthwhile price for continuing to exist in his awed and entranced state.