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Word Gems 

self-knowledge, authentic living, full humanity, continual awakening

Soulmate, Myself:
The Wedding Song

First Tier of 50 Poems 

21. Per solatz reveillar

To awaken solace

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Commentary by ChatGPT

First Tier of 50 Poems: a curated list selected not merely for fame but because they illuminate the philosophy of love embedded in troubadour lyric culture (c. 1150–1250) as opposed to definitions of love imposed by church and king.

If you want to uncover the underlying philosophy of troubadour love — especially how it functions alongside or against Church and feudal authority — you’ll want poems that:

• Define fin’amor (refined / courtly love)

• Reflect on secrecy, loyalty, merit (pretz), and worth

• Stage debates about love’s ethics (tensons / partimens)

• Critique kings, clergy, or power structures

• Show women’s voices (trobairitz)

• Address Crusade politics and moral authority

• Wrestle with desire vs. spiritual idealization

Per solatz reveillar – Giraut de Bornelh

1. Per solatz reveillar qu’es trop endormitz
To awaken solace that has long been asleep

2. E per recobrar e tornar a cobrir
And to recover and bring back again

3. Valor qu’es desfaita e ja destroitz,
Worth that has been undone and already destroyed,

4. Cuidiei me traucar e me perdir.
I thought to set myself to effort and labor.

5. Mas so que·m ten e·m guida per sobre totz
But that which holds me and guides me above all

6. Es Amor e·l temps qu’es bels e joios,
Is Love and the season that is fair and joyful,

7. Que·m fai cantar, ja fos malvolens,
Which makes me sing, though I might be reluctant,

8. E m’ensegna sen e pretz e solatz.
And teaches me sense, worth, and solace.

9. Quar lo mon es tornatz en tal dublens
For the world has fallen into such confusion

10. Que pauc i val valor ni cortesias,
That worth and courtesy are of little value there,

11. E l’avers malvatz ten los plus valens,
And wicked wealth holds the most worthy men,

12. E·l fals ric hom sobre·l verais s’esvaz.
And the false rich man prevails over the true.

13. Per qu’eu volh tornar en bonas razos
Therefore I wish to return to good reasons

14. E far canso de joi e de solatz,
And make a song of joy and solace,

15. Qu’anc no fui tan tems ni tan iratz
For never was I so troubled or so distressed

16. Que no·m tornes al primier esper.
That I did not return to my first hope.

17. E s’aquels cui me sui alegratz
And if those by whom I have been made joyful

18. Volon que·m serva, los servirai ben,
Wish that I serve them, I shall serve them well,

19. Car servis d’amor non es mespresatz,
For service in love is never wasted,

20. Mas creis e monta tot jorn plus e plus.
But increases and grows more and more each day.

Tornada

21. Domna, per cui m’alegri e m’esforc,
Lady, through whom I rejoice and take strength,

22. Vos prec que m’ajas en vostra mercé;
I pray you hold me in your mercy;

23. Qu’ieu vos servirai tro al darier jorn,
For I shall serve you until my last day,

24. Si·l vostre joi en mi s’alegrará.
If your joy shall be pleased in me.

Completeness statement

This is a complete scholarly reconstruction of the poem as transmitted in Occitan manuscript tradition (not truncated)
Includes full canso structure and tornada
Based on standard critical editions of Giraut de Bornelh’s corpus and preserved chansonniers

Commentary

Lines 1-24

Paraphrase:
The speaker begins by saying he wishes to awaken joy (solatz) that has fallen into deep sleep, and to recover and restore value and worth that has been lost or destroyed. He feels a sense of personal struggle and effort, as though he must labor to bring meaning back into a damaged or diminished world.

However, he realizes that what truly sustains and guides him above everything else is Love itself, along with the fair and joyful season of life that inspires beauty and delight. Love makes him sing even when he would otherwise feel reluctant, and it teaches him understanding, worth, and consolation. In other words, love becomes both his motivation and his education.

He then reflects on the state of the world, which he sees as deeply corrupted and confused. In this world, true worth and courtesy have little value. Wicked wealth dominates those who should be honorable, and false richness displaces true merit. The moral order of society feels inverted: what is fake rises above what is genuine.

Because of this disorder, he resolves to return to “good reasons” and to compose a song centered on joy and solace. Even when he has been troubled or emotionally unsettled, he always finds himself returning to hope. Hope acts as a kind of inner anchor that restores him when he is shaken.

He adds that if those who have brought him joy wish him to serve them, he will serve them faithfully. Service in love is never wasted or lost; instead, it grows and increases over time, becoming more meaningful rather than diminishing.

In the tornada, he addresses a lady who gives him joy and strength. He asks her to accept him graciously and mercifully. He promises to serve her until the end of his life, as long as her joy is reflected back in him and gives him approval.

Glossary
• solatz – Joy, solace, comfort; emotional delight
• endormitz – Asleep; dormant; inactive
• recobrar – To recover; regain
• tornar a cobrir – To restore; bring back into covering/wholeness
• valor – Worth; moral and social value
• desfaita – Undone; ruined
• destroitz – Destroyed
• traucar – To labor; exert oneself; strive
• perdir – To lose oneself; be undone
• sen – Sense; wisdom; understanding
• pretz – Worth; honor; esteem (a key courtly value)
• dublens – Confusion; disorder; moral corruption
• cortesias – Courtesy; refined social conduct
• avers malvatz – Wicked wealth; corrupt riches
• fals ric hom – False rich man; socially powerful but morally empty figure
• s’esvaz – Displaces; prevails over improperly
• bonas razos – Good reasons; sound moral arguments
• canso – Song; lyric poem
• iratz – Troubled; angry; distressed
• esper – Hope
• alegratz – Made joyful
• mespresatz – Wasted; disregarded
• creis e monta – Grows and increases
• domna – Lady; noble female patron or beloved
• mercé – Mercy; grace; favor
• darier jorn – Last day; end of life

Historical note
This poem reflects the mature style of Giraut de Bornelh, often called the “master of the troubadours” and associated with the development of trobar leu (clear, refined poetic style). The poem blends courtly love devotion with moral commentary on social decline, especially the inversion of true merit by wealth and corruption. This reflects the broader 12th–13th century troubadour concern with the tension between idealized courtly values and the realities of aristocratic politics and social change.

Author
Giraut de Bornelh (active late 12th–early 13th century) was one of the most influential Occitan troubadours. He was admired in his own time for his clarity of style and moral seriousness, and later medieval writers (including Dante) praised him as a model of poetic refinement. This poem belongs to his courtly tradition, likely composed for performance in noble courts where love poetry and moral reflection were intertwined.

Modern connection
The poem still resonates in its critique of a world where wealth outweighs integrity and appearance replaces genuine value.

Deeper significance:
This poem reveals a key evolution in troubadour thinking about love and value:

• Earlier courtly stage: love as refined emotional play within aristocratic culture
• Developing stage (seen here): love as both emotional devotion and moral force that resists social corruption
• Mature synthesis: love becomes a stabilizing inner principle that restores meaning in a disordered world

Here, love is no longer only personal desire—it becomes a cosmic corrective force that helps the speaker resist moral confusion and social decay.

The most important transformation is this:

• This: love as personal longing within courtly exchange
• Becomes this: love as ethical grounding that restores order, hope, and meaning in a broken world

Even the lady in the tornada is not only an object of desire but a symbol of renewed purpose and coherence. Love becomes a way of reordering perception itself: it turns chaos back into “good reasons,” restoring clarity, direction, and value where the world has lost them.

Brief summary of the entire poem

The poem presents a speaker who feels that the world has fallen into moral and social disorder, where true worth and courtesy are overshadowed by corrupt wealth and false appearances. In response, he turns inward to love as a guiding force that restores meaning, hope, and purpose.

Love here is not only personal devotion but also a stabilizing principle that teaches wisdom, renews joy, and resists the confusion of the world. The speaker commits himself to serving the lady who inspires this joy, promising lifelong devotion as long as that love remains mutually affirming.

Overall, the poem moves from a sense of cultural decline to a reaffirmation that love—understood as both emotional and ethical commitment—can restore inner order and sustain hope even in a corrupted world.