Analysis of Tant ai mo cor

Bernard de Ventadorn 1135 – 1194



Tant ai mo cor ple de joya,
tot me desnatura.
Flor blancha, vermeilh'e groya
me par la frejura,
c'ab lo ven et ab la ploya
me creis l'aventura,
per que mos chans mont' e poya
e mos pretz melhura.
Tan ai al cor d'amor,
de joi e de doussor,
per qu'el gels me sembla flor
e la neus verdura.

Anar posc ses vestidura,
nutz en ma chamiza,
car fin'amors m'asegura
de la freja biza.
Mas es fols qui.s desmezura,
e no.s te de guiza,
Per qu'eu ai pres de me cura,
deis c'agui enquiza
la plus bela d'amor,
don aten tan d'onor,
car en loc de sa ricor
non volh aver Piza.

Eu n'ai la bon'esperansa.
Mas petit m'aonda,
c'atressi.m ten en balansa
com la naus en l'onda.
Del mal pes que.m desenansa,
non sai on m'esconda.
Tota noih me vir'e.m lansa
desobre l'esponda.
Plus trac pena d'amor
de Tristan l'amador
que.n sofri manta dolor
per Izeut la blonda.

Mas fals lauzengier engres
m'an lunhat de so pais
que tals s'en fai esdevis
qu'eu cuidera qu'ens celes
si.ns saubes ams d'un coratge.

(My heart is so full of joy that everything is changed for me. The cold season seems like a flower, white, vermillion, and yellow. For with the wind and the rain my good fortune grows, so that my singing rises up, and my worth augments. I have so much love in my heart, so much joy and sweetness, that the ice seems like flowers, and the snow like greenery.

I go around without clothes, naked under my nightshirt, for true love protects me from the cold wind. But he is mad who goes beyond measure and does not behave according to custom. And so I have been on my guard since I have sought the love of the most beautiful lady, from whom I expect much honor. For I would not give up all her riches for Pisa itself.

I have good hope. But that's of little help, because she holds me in balance like a ship on the waves. From the bad thoughts that depress me I do not know how to escape. Every night I toss and turn on my bed. I have more pain from love than Tristan the lover, who suffered many woes for Iseult, the Blond.

(But the false intriguers have distanced me from her country; and that one has become a spy whom / thought would have helped us, if he knew our souls had one will.)


Scheme ABABABABBBBB BCBCBCBCBBBC CDCDCDCDBBBD CCCCX B X D X
Poetic Form
Metre 1111111 111 1111 1111 11111111 1110100 1111111 1111 1111110 11111 1111111 1111 1111 1111 111 1111 11111 11111 1111111 111 1110110 11011 111111 11101 11111 1101 1111 11111 11111 1111 101111 11 1110110 11110 11101 1111 1111 111111 111111 1111 111111 1111111110111101101101010100101101001111011111010101111111101111101010111100011100 11010111010111110111011111111011001101010110011111111111011011001011101110111111101011001 111111110101111010101101101110111111110110011101111111111110101101011101 10111101101001110101111111111101111
Closest metre Iambic heptameter
Characters 2,122
Words 425
Sentences 33
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 12, 12, 12, 5, 1, 1, 1, 1
Lines Amount 45
Letters per line (avg) 37
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 206
Words per stanza (avg) 52
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

2:15 min read
65

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…

All Bernard de Ventadorn poems | Bernard de Ventadorn Books

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