Cantigas: Galician-Portuguese Troubadour Poems
384
Cantigas: Galician-Portuguese Troubadour Poems
384Hardcover
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Overview
The rich tradition of troubadour poetry in western Iberia had all but vanished from history until the discovery of several ancient cancioneiros, or songbooks, in the nineteenth century. These compendiums revealed close to 1,700 songs, or cantigas, composed by around 150 troubadours from Galicia, Portugal, and Castile in the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. In Cantigas, award-winning translator Richard Zenith presents a delightful selection of 124 of these poems in English versions that preserve the musical quality of the originals, which are featured on facing pages. By turns romantic, spiritual, ironic, misogynist, and feminist, these lyrics paint a vibrant picture of their time and place, surprising us with attitudes and behaviors that are both alien and familiar.
The book includes the three major kinds of cantigas. While cantigas de amor (love poems in the voice of men) were largely inspired by the troubadour poetry of southern France, cantigas de amigo (love poems voiced by women) derived from a unique native oral tradition in which the narrator pines after her beloved, sings his praises, or mocks him. In turn, cantigas de escárnio are satiric, and sometimes outrageously obscene, lyrics whose targets include aristocrats, corrupt clergy, promiscuous women, and homosexuals.
Complete with an illuminating introduction on the history of the cantigas, their poetic characteristics, and the men who composed and performed them, this engaging volume is filled with exuberant and unexpected poems.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780691179391 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Princeton University Press |
| Publication date: | 05/17/2022 |
| Series: | The Lockert Library of Poetry in Translation , #131 |
| Pages: | 384 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d) |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Notes on the Text and Translation 30
Acknowledgments 31
The Cantigas
Osoiro Anes
1 Song of a Man Gone Back to Prison 35
2 Song about Love's Injustice 37
Gil Sanches
3 Song for a Word from Montemaior 41
Fernão Rodrigues De Calheiros
4 Song of a Girl Who Sought Love 43
5 Song for a Friend Who's Going Away 45
Paio Soares De Taveirós
6 Song of How I Die 47
7 Song to a Lady in Simple Clothes 49
Lopo
8 Song of a Restless Heart 51
Martim Soares
9 Song about Lopo the Jongleur 53
10 Song to an Unbelieving Lady 55
Afonso Anes Do Cotom
11 Song to a Learned Abbess 59
12 Song to a Woman Who Doesn't Burst 63
Nuno Fernandes Torneol
13 Song for a Sleeping Lover 65
14 Song about an Unarriving Lover 69
Pero Da Ponte
15 Song about a Bad Day 71
16 Song of a Lover Who Would Hate 73
17 Song about a Lost Crusade 77
18 Song about Costly Cheap Goods 79
19 Song about a Nobleman Up for Auction 81
20 Song about a Man Who Serves Villainy 83
Joam Garcia De Guilhade
21 Song of the Green Eyes 85
22 Song about an Insistent Sweetheart 87
23 Song about a Friend with Things to Say 89
24 Song about a Friend Who Says He Wants to Die 91
25 Song for a Dying Admirer 93
26 Song of a Lover Who'd Rather Not Die 95
27 Song for a Distraught Lover 97
28 Song for an Ugly Lady 99
29 Song of a Wronged Troubadour 101
30 Song of a Jealous Troubadour 103
Roi Queimado
31 Song of the Death I'm Dying 105
32 Song for When I Die 107
Pero Garcia Burgalês
33 Song about a Troubadour Who Dies and Lives 109
34 Song of a Bereft Lover 111
35 Song for a Lady in Love with Me 113
36 Song about a Sad, Impoverished Lady 115
37 Song about a Sheriff Who Deals Out Justice 117
38 Song to a Man Who Never Stops Mounting 119
39 Song about a Man Who Once Sang Well 121
Pero Garcia De Ambroa
40 Song about a Woman Who Charged Too Much 123
Pero Mafaldo
41 Song on How to Win Fame and Honor 125
Nuno Anes Cerzeo
42 Discord 127
Joam Soares Coelho
43 Song of the Beautiful Hair 133
Fernão Garcia Esgaravunha
44 Song in Praise of a Nursemaid Lady 135
Juião Bolseiro
45 Song about a Song of Love 139
46 Song on an Unending Night 141
47 Song of the Long Nights God Made 143
Pedro Anes Solaz
48 Song for a Sleepless Night 145
Joam Lopes De Ulhoa
49 Song about a Two-Faced Lady 149
Gil Peres Conde
50 Song against God for Taking My Lady 153
51 Song about What Not to Eat in War 157
52 Song of an Unpaid Soldier 159
Afonso Mendes De Besteiros
53 Song about a Nobleman Sent to Fight the Moors 161
Alfonso X, King of Castile and León
54 Song of a Man Weary of Scorpions 163
55 Song in Praise of Holy Mary 167
56 Song in Praise of Holy Mary 171
57 Song of a Miracle by Holy Mary 175
58 Song about the Dean's Books 181
59 Song for a Beloved in Guarda 185
Martim Codax
60 Seven Songs for a Beloved in Vigo: One 187
61 Two 189
62 Three 191
63 Four 193
64 Five 195
65 Six 197
66 Seven 199
Meendinho
67 Song of a Girl Still Waiting 201
Pero Gomes Barroso
68 Song about a Worsening World 203
Roi Pais De Ribela
69 Song about a Rich Man's Trout 205
70 Song about a Rich Nobleman 207
71 Song about a Disdainful Damsel 209
Joam Vasques De Talaveira
72 Song about How to Enjoy a Dancer 211
Lourenço
73 Song about Three Girls Singing 213
Lourenço and Joam Vasques De Talaveira
74 Song of the Troubadour's Art on Finding Itself in Sin 215
Joam Baveca
75 Song against Those Who Falsely Swear Love 217
76 Song about a Suspicious Mother 221
Pero Meogo
77 Song about a Girl at a Spring 223
78 Song about a Girl Back from the Spring 225
79 Song about an Endangered Friend 227
Pedro Amigo De Sevilha
80 Song about Two Girls Talking 229
Roi Fernandes De Santiago
81 Song against the Sea 231
82 Song of a Man in Trouble 233
Joam Lobeira
83 Song for Leonorette 237
Pero Viviães
84 Song in Favor of a Pilgrimage 241
Airas Nunes
85 Song of the Flowering Hazel Trees 243
86 Song in Search of Truth 245
87 Pastoral Song 249
88 Song of Love in the Summer 253
Paio Gomes Charinho
89 Song about an Occupied Heart 255
90 Song about the Pain of Love and Sea 257
91 Song of the Parting Flowers 259
92 Song about a Good Deed 263
Pero Gonçalves De Portocarreiro
93 Song for an Unreturned Lover 265
Martim Moxa
94 Song about Why I Don't Go Away 267
Joam Airas De Santiago
95 Song of Change 271
96 Song about a Man Who Wants to Talk 273
97 Song of One Who Knows She's Good-Looking 277
98 Song about a Loveless Lady 279
99 Song about How I Make Songs 281
100 Pastoral Song 283
101 Song about a Strange Omen 287
102 Song of a Contented Troubadour 289
Joam Zorro
103 Song of New Ships 291
104 Song about the King's Boats 293
105 Song of a Girl Going Down to the River 295
106 Song about a Request for Hair 297
107 Song of What I Wish I Hadn't Done 299
Dinis, King of Portugal
108 Song about a Girl Washing Shirts 301
109 Song of the Flowers of the Green Pine 305
110 Song of a Girl Dying of Loves 309
111 Song of a Lover Asking a Favor 311
112 Song about a Mr. So-and-So 313
113 Song in Provençal Style 315
114 Song about the Provençal Poets 317
115 Song about a Man I Know 319
116 Song for a Vexed Lady 321
117 Song of a Thankful Troubadour 323
118 Pastoral Song 325
Fernando Esquio
119 Song about a Lover Who Hunts 329
120 Song about a Friar Said to be Impotent 331
Estevam Coelho
121 Song about a Girl Twisting Silk 333
122 Song of a Girl Going to Bathe 335
Vidal
123 Song about a Lady from Elvas 337
Afonso Sanches and Vasco Martins De Resende
124 Song about a Living Dead Lady 339
Notes to the Poems 343
About the Galician-Portuguese Troubadours 353
Bibliography 361
What People are Saying About This
“Cantigas opens a new vista onto a famous European poetic tradition. Richard Zenith’s introduction is a rich trove of history and insight, and his translations are revelations in terms of how deftly they capture the lyrical combination of verbal artistry and incantatory resonance.”—John Keene, translator of Hilda Hilst’s Letters from a Seducer“Translated with elegance and wit, Cantigas is a brilliant accomplishment. Richard Zenith is the most celebrated and versatile translator from Portuguese working today.”—Anna M. Klobucka, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth