Analysis of Can vei la lauzeta

Bernard de Ventadorn 1135 – 1194



When I see the lark joyfully moving its wings against the sun's rays, and falling because of the sweetness that enters its heart, ah! a great envy comes upon me of all those who I see happy. I am astonished that my heart does not melt with desire.
Alas! I thought I knew so much about love, and I know so little, because I cannot stop loving the one from whom I will never obtain anything. She has taken my heart, myself, herself, and the whole world, and has left me with nothing but yearning and a languishing heart.

I no longer have power over myself, and am no longer my own person, from the moment when she lets me look into her eyes, that mirror that pleases me so. Mirror, since I am mirrored in you, my sighs have caused my death, for I am lost just as Narcissus lost himself in the fountain.

I despair of women; never more shall I trust them. As once I exalted them, now shall I cast them down. Since I see that not one of them is for me against she who destroys and confounds me, I doubt and mistrust them all, since I well know they are all the same.

And in this I see that my lady is very much a woman, and that is why I criticize her. For she does not want that which she should want, and that which she is forbidden, she does. I am fallen very low, and I have acted like the fool on the bridge. And I don't know why this has happened to me, unless it's because I tried to mount too high.

Since nothing works any more with my lady - neither prayers nor pity nor my rights concerning her; and since it no longer pleases her that I love her, I will never more say it to her. And so I take my leave and go away from her. She has killed me, and I respond to her with death. And I leave, since she doesn't retain me, I the unhappy one, into exile, I know not where


Scheme XX X X X X
Poetic Form
Metre 111011001011010110100110101101110110101111111110110101111111010 011111110110111100111011001111110011011101110100110111110110001001 11101101010111011101010111110101110110111011110011111111111110101010010 101110101111111101011111111111111111101110100111100111111111101 001111110110101001111100111111111101111100111110101011101011010111111101101101111111 110110111101011101110100011110100111011101111001111101011011110101101101111100111001010111111
Characters 1,775
Words 360
Sentences 19
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 2, 1, 1, 1, 1
Lines Amount 6
Letters per line (avg) 227
Words per line (avg) 60
Letters per stanza (avg) 272
Words per stanza (avg) 72
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

1:49 min read
97

Bernard de Ventadorn

Bernart de Ventadorn, also known as Bernard de Ventadour or Bernat del Ventadorn, was a prominent troubadour of the classical age of troubadour poetry. He was born in 1135, and died in 1194. Now thought of as "the Master Singer" he developed the cançons into a more formalized style which allowed for sudden turns. He is remembered for his mastery as well as popularisation of the trobar leu style, and for his prolific cançons, which helped define the genre and establish the "classical" form of courtly love poetry, to be imitated and reproduced throughout the remaining century and a half of troubadour activity. Bernart was known for being able to portray his woman as a divine agent in one moment and then, in a sudden twist, as Eve – the cause of man's initial sin. This dichotomy in his work is portrayed in a "graceful, witty, and polished" medium. more…

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    Who wrote the poem "O Captain! My Captain!"?
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    C Emily Dickinson
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