Ventadorn

Analyzing "You've Asked, My Lords, for Song" by Bernart de Ventadorn

Stanza 1:

Ventadorn addresses his "lords” in the first line of the poem. From what follows, it can be inferred that he is at a new court recounting his past love to a new lord.  From, “Yet never sing for long-” to “Has love, then, gone awry?” It appears that Ventadorn does not possess the love of his lady. The phrases “lost the heart”, “gone awry” and “run dry” all connote an end of his love. It is surprising when he writes that his love is “better than before”, because this would argue that his love is returned and thriving.

Stanza 2:

Ventadorn recounts how his lady loves him, “beyond compare” and he thanks the Lord for the love he possesses. He claims that the lady he loves, “loves [him] faithfully”. Faithfully implies that her love is steadfast, but from the previous stanza, it would seem that her love has changed. He describes her love as a “gift” and he is “honored” to possess it. They word “honored” is typically pared with the idea that one is humbled to receive something. Thus, Ventadorn is happy to have the love of his beloved. He spends the last few lines of the stanza explaining that he is filled with worry about her while he is away.

Stanza 3:

The third stanza he recounts how she consumes his thoughts. She is described as “[investing] his mind” and “[snaring] his heart”. These images both show how he has fallen in love with her entirely. She has conquered him, as the words snare and invest imply. In the last line of the stanza he claims ownership of her as ,  “my best part’s”. He shows that she is his “better half”.

Stanza 4:

By directly addressing love in the first line, Ventadorn shows his anguish that he is apart form his lover. He conveys his unhappiness with the words, “strife”, “griefs”, and “end my life”. “Unless” brings about a change in the tone. He is hoping that he can be with his lover in the last lines of the paragraph. The word “might” implies his longing.

Stanza 5:

In stanaza 5, Ventadorn affirms his willingness to accept both the good and the bad seasons of his love. He implies that his love is in a bitter season with the words, “troubles”, “love’s pains”, “suffer”, “far apart”. His tone is resigned, as he is willing to accept that, “the times are such / [that] those far apart must wait / to overcome their fate.” However, his tone is hopeful that he can “overcome [his] fate” as he believes that he can be reunited with his beloved by “[waiting]”.

Stanza 6:

The first four lines of stanza six imply that Ventadorn possesses the love of his lady. He thanks her for her steadfast love, which he describes as “so true” and “fine”. He affirms his commitment to her, thus proving the resoluteness of his love as well. In the last four lines he portrays himself as subservient to his lady, perhaps as am honor of her rank, but also to convey his love for her. He shows his lower place by his “bow” and by “yielding” to her. Both words show his subservient status. The last two lines entreat her to remember him. This seems to contradict his belief that his love is returned. He is only asking for the slightest remembrance as evident by the word, “one”, “if sometime”, and “chance”. These words also convey an uncertainty in his position with his beloved.

Stanzas 7 and 8:

These last two stanzas repeat the sentiment expressed in stanza 6, that God ultimately will determine the fate of his love. He asks that God will grant him his love with the word “may”. However in the meantime, Ventadorn seems to console himself with “Magnet”, Eleanor of Aquitane, (Trobador Poets). The phrase, “what he can find” implies that Escudor will do the best he can to find what he seeks, but the abrupt transition between the last two lines at the end shows that Ventadorn is not too hopeful about a speedy reunion with his beloved, and instead is finding himself with a new love.

Works Cited:

Ventadorn, Bernart de. “You’ve asked, my Lords, for Song”. Lark in the Morning. Ed.

Robert Kehew. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2005. 83-5. Print.

Trobador Poets: Selections from the Poems of Eight Trobadors. Trans. Barbara Smythe.

New York: Duffield and Co., 1911. 193. Web.

<http://books.google.com/books?id=FwUzAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA193&lpg=PA193&dq=Magnet+in+Ventadorn+poetry&source=bl&ots=QCjUJUMbOH&sig=_3wVdGa5HnkZPce7oCizf88_3IQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=2TpYVKHKHcaZgwSIoYOQBg&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Magnet%20in%20Ventadorn%20poetry&f=false>.