You've Asked, My Lords, for Song - Bernart de Ventadorn

You’ve asked, my lords, for song:

I sing for my reply

Yet never sing for long –

I’ve lost the heart to try.

How should a troubadour

Sing when his luck’s run dry?

Has love, then, gone awry?

No; better than before.

Then why feel so heartsore?

As an opening stanza, Ventadorn speaks directly towards the lords and they refer to Ventadorn’s patrons who asked him for song. Ventadorn’s occupation is to sing infront of them; however, line 3 depicts his unexcited emotion that he never sing in full context. The following line supports why he is not in the mood of singing “for long”. “I’ve lost the heart to try” implies that he has lost his beloved – lord’s wife. Furthermore, he asks a question after a question about the uncertainty of love because “his luck” is not anymore at presence. However, he still believes that the power of love is “better than before” yet unsure of why he is feeling so despaired.

With gifts beyond compare

The Lord has honored me;

I love a lady, fair,

Who loves me faithfully.

Yet while I languish here

I can’t so much as tell

If she fares ill or well

Which fills my thoughts with care

Since I dare not go there.

Here, Ventadorn appreciates “The Lord” who is not a patron but a God (capitalized) that gave him the opportunity to love someone sincerely. Also, he is thankful that his love is not only going in one direction but also receiving love from his beloved. Moreover, second half of this stanza presents an example of ‘distant love,’ which is portrayed frequently in troubadour’s poetry. Since his lover is far away from him, he lost his vigor and vitality and cannot do much but visualize her in his “thoughts with care.”

Through her, such joys I find

That if men shout or call

While she invests my mind,

I’d never hear at all.

So subtly does she snare

The men swear and attest

That they all see me here

Though my best part’s still there.

Ventadorn further expresses the joy of love towards her and that love is strongly portrayed as he says, “While she invests my mind, / I’d never hear at all.” However, in reality, he has not still encountered his beloved. Also, he pictures her resting in his heart as “subtly does she snare,” and this supports his “best part[’s]” of distant love. Ventadorn uses the dual position of “here” and “there,” which implies an image of not concentrating on singing infront of the lord as he imagine the “best part” being with her.

In stanza three, Ventadorn cannot stand anymore without her physically next to him and he depicts a scenery of sexual desire as he says “She lies in, to embrace / And press against me, tight, / Her body, smooth and white.” Further in stanza four, the God has now taken away Ventadorn’s love to suffer. However, he states that he will not give up on his love even though he sees the consequence of  “troubles or love’s pains.” He is in fact calm and patient on waiting his beloved to reunite one day as “to overcome their fate.”

In the last three stanzas, Ventadorn now appreciates his beloved for love being “so true and fine.” He exaggerate his expression towards her as “I bow and join my hands / Yielding myself to you.” He finally states once again that although his love is not at presence, he will not renounce nor give up easily on her as “My magnet goes with me.”