From Dawn to Dawn: Troubadour Poetry

by A.S. Kilne

From Dawn to Dawn - Troubadour Poetry . Translated into English from the Occitan by A. S. Kline . Published with commentary notes and illustrations courtesy of the public domain collections of the British Library. The troubadour tradition of lyric poetry originated in eleventh century Occitania – a region comprising what is now southern France together with portions of Catalonia and northern Italy. Occitania, whilst a cultural union linguistically founded on the Occitan language, was neither a legal nor political entity in its own right. The troubadour school of Occitan poetical and musical fiction, rich in genre and satire, concerned itself principally with the twin themes of chivalry and courtly love. Spreading across Europe over two and a half centuries, the tradition eventually waned in popularity and died out around the time of the Black Death. This selection of Occitan poetry comprises verse of poetic merit rather than that of purely historic interest. The translations herein aim to preserve, in some measure, the rhyming schemes of the originals. The form of Occtian poems was at least half their art - with crucially many being set to music, of which much survives. This and other texts available from Poetry in Translation

Genres: Poetry

155 pages, ebook

First published November 2, 2012

Reviews

[Alex Kartelias · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's crazy to think our modern way of thinking about love and relationships all started here. In these versus are the seeds from which Shakespeare, Dante, Dickinson and Keats were to grow out of and to see its young blossoming from these 'star crossed lovers' is fascinating. Despite the antiquated language, the emotion is as real as today's relationships are and they range from bliss, fear, embarrassment, sadness and humour. The troubadours are worthy of romantisizing about.