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Word Gems 

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

Soulmate, Myself:
The Wedding Song

First Tier of 50 Poems 

41. Ara.m platz

Now it pleases me 

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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

Ara.m platz – Giraut de Bornelh

1. Ara.m platz, Giraut de Borneill,
Now it pleases me, Giraut de Bornelh,

2. que sapcha per c’anatz blasman
that I may know why you go criticizing

3. trobar clus ni per cal semblan.
closed poetry and on what grounds.

4. Aiso.m digaz,
Tell me this:

5. si tan prezatz
if you prize so highly

6. so que es a toz comunal,
what is common to everyone,

7. car adonc tut seran egual.
for then all men will be equal.

8. Seign’en Linhaura, no.m coreill
Lord Linhaura, I do not complain

9. si qecs troba a son talan;
if each man composes to his own taste;

10. mas eu son jujaire d’aitan
but I am judge of this much:

11. qu’es mais amatz
that a song is more loved

12. e plus prezatz
and more highly prized

13. qui.l fai levet e venarsal,
when one makes it light and accessible,

14. e vos no m’o tornetz a mal.
and do not take it ill from me.

15. Giraut, non voill qu’en tal trepeil
Giraut, I do not wish my poetry

16. torn mos trobars; que ja ogan
to fall into such confusion; for never yet

17. lo lauzo.l bon e.l pauc e.l gran.
have the worthy and the base praised alike.

18. Ja per los faz
Never by fools

19. non er lauzatz
shall it be praised,

20. car non conoisson ni lor cal
for they neither know nor care

21. so qu’es cars ni so que plus val.
what is precious and what is most valuable.

22. Linhaure, si per so m’esveil
Linhaura, if for that reason I keep awake

23. e vir mon alberc en afan,
and turn my lodging into toil,

24. ben ai en cor que.m tenc a gran
I truly hold it important

25. quar del paubres fatz
because of the common audience.

26. Per que trobatz
For why do you compose,

27. si no.us platz qu’om l’entenda.ls tal?
if you do not wish people to understand it at once?

28. Quar chans no porta autre cabal.
For song brings no other profit.

29. Giraut, pero s’eu ai asseil
Giraut, yet if I gather together the best

30. lo mielhs e.l dich ad ops e.l dan,
and shape and advance it fittingly,

31. no.m cal si per pauc no s’espand,
I care little if it does not spread widely,

32. quar anc viltatz
for never was vulgarity

33. non fon denhtatz;
a sign of worth;

34. per que plus es prezatz aur fin que sal,
thus fine gold is more prized than salt,

35. e tot atressi es del chan.
and just the same is true of song.

36. Linhaure, fort etz de bon cosselh
Linhaura, you are very confident in your argument

37. contra fis amans contrastan;
in opposing true lovers;

38. e si eu n’ai major afan,
and though I endure greater labor from it,

39. mos chans en fatz
my song gains thereby

40. que raucs no.l fatz
that no hoarse fellow mangles it

41. ni.l diga mal en chan venal,
or sings it badly for hire,

42. quar no.l teng ad home jogral.
for I do not think it suited to a mere minstrel.

43. Giraut, per cel e per solelh
Giraut, by heaven and by the sun

44. e per la lutz que.s vai creissan,
and by the growing light,

45. no sai de que estam parlan
I do not know what we are speaking of,

46. ni on sui natz,
nor where I was born,

47. tan sui torbatz
so troubled am I

48. per un joi qu’es naturals;
by a joy that is natural and perfect;

49. quan pens d’autra res no.m val.
when I think on anything else, nothing matters.

50. Linhaure, aisi.m vira.l fuelh
Linhaura, thus she turns against me the red shield

51. cellei cui deman e cui man,
of her whom I court and serve,

52. que.m ven en cor que diga tan:
that I feel moved to say this much:

53. “A Dieu m’azatz!”
“Into God’s hands I place myself!”

54. Quals fols pensatz
What mad and arrogant thought

55. m’a fait levar temensa tal?
has made such fearful doubt arise in me?

56. Non remembre cum m fet comtal?
Do I no longer remember how she ennobled me?

57. Giraut, greu m’es, per San Marsal,
Giraut, it grieves me, by Saint Martial,

58. que vos anetz abans Nadal.
that you are leaving before Christmas.

59. Linhaure, quar m’en vau ual
Linhaura, for I am going now to a royal court,

60. a cort reial rica e val.
rich and powerful.

This is a complete version of the poem, including the two-line tornada exchanges at the end. It is not truncated. The text follows the standard critical recension of the tenso between Giraut de Bornelh and Raimbaut d'Aurenga.

Commentary

Paraphrase:
The poem is a debate between two troubadours about what poetry should be. Raimbaut d’Aurenga (called Linhaura here) begins by challenging Giraut de Bornelh. He asks why Giraut criticizes “closed” or difficult poetry — poetry filled with subtlety, layered meanings, and complexity. Raimbaut argues that if poetry is made too common and easy for everyone, then distinctions between refined and unrefined people disappear. Art, to him, should not be equally accessible to all people because not everyone has equal sensitivity or understanding.

Giraut replies politely that everyone may compose according to his own preference, but he believes poetry is better when it is clear, graceful, and understandable. A poem that ordinary listeners can follow will naturally be more loved and valued. He asks Raimbaut not to take offense at this position.

Raimbaut answers that he does not want his poetry reduced into confusion or oversimplicity. Worthy and unworthy audiences should not respond in exactly the same way to art. Fools cannot truly appreciate precious things, because they do not recognize value or excellence. Therefore poetry should preserve distinction and refinement rather than flatten itself into common speech.

Giraut responds that although making accessible poetry requires effort and discipline, he willingly works hard for the sake of a broader audience. He asks a practical question: why compose songs at all if people cannot understand them? Poetry does not bring material profit, so its reward lies in communication and emotional connection.

Raimbaut counters that he prefers to gather together the finest expressions and shape them carefully, even if only a small audience appreciates them. He compares refined poetry to fine gold, which is naturally valued more highly than ordinary salt. In the same way, difficult and subtle poetry possesses a higher quality even if fewer people understand it.

Giraut then introduces another dimension: love. He says Raimbaut argues too confidently against “true lovers.” The labor of crafting refined poetry may protect the song from vulgar misuse. A coarse singer or hired entertainer cannot easily distort a subtle composition. In this sense, complexity safeguards emotional purity and noble feeling from commercialization or degradation.

Suddenly the debate shifts inward. Raimbaut becomes overwhelmed by love itself. He swears by heaven, the sun, and growing light that love has so completely disturbed him that he scarcely knows what they are discussing anymore. The joy of love consumes his thoughts so fully that everything else becomes insignificant.

Giraut responds sympathetically. He describes how the lady he serves causes emotional turmoil within him. Doubt rises in his heart, yet he tries to remember how love once ennobled him and made him greater than he was before. Love creates both fear and exaltation at once.

Finally, the short tornada closes the exchange on a personal note. Raimbaut says he is saddened that Giraut is leaving before Christmas. Giraut replies that he is departing for a wealthy royal court. The philosophical debate ends not with triumph but with friendship, movement, and separation.

Glossary
• trobar clus – “Closed poetry”; a highly difficult, allusive, aristocratic style of troubadour verse intended for sophisticated audiences.
• trobar leu – The opposite poetic style: light, clear, graceful, and accessible poetry.
• comunal – Common or shared among everyone; ordinary and public.
• levet – Light, easy, graceful in style.
• venarsal – Accessible, marketable, understandable to listeners.
• trepeil – Confusion, disorder, entanglement.
• lauzatz – Praised or celebrated.
• paubres fatz – The common crowd or ordinary audience.
• cabal – Profit, gain, advantage.
• viltatz – Vulgarity, baseness, commonness.
• aur fin – Fine gold; a metaphor for refined artistic excellence.
• fis amans – “True lovers”; an idealized courtly lover possessing refinement and emotional discipline.
• jogral – A minstrel or performer who sang poetry publicly, often for payment. Troubadours sometimes regarded joglars as socially beneath them.
• joi – Courtly joy; an elevated emotional state produced by love, beauty, desire, and spiritual excitement together.
• comtal – Ennobled or made noble, often emotionally or spiritually elevated.
• tornada – The short concluding envoy attached to a troubadour poem.

Historical Note
This poem comes from the great flowering of troubadour culture in southern France during the 1100s. The language is Occitan, one of the most sophisticated literary languages of medieval Europe. The poem belongs to the aristocratic court culture of Aquitaine and Provence, where poets debated not only love but also the nature of poetry itself.

The argument here reflects a real literary controversy of the time. Troubadours divided over whether poetry should be “closed” and intellectually refined (trobar clus) or more open and lucid (trobar leu). This was not merely stylistic. It reflected questions about class, education, refinement, and spiritual sensitivity. Was poetry for an elite few, or could beauty belong to everyone?

Courtly love itself was also evolving during this period. Earlier troubadour poetry often emphasized secrecy, hierarchy, longing, and stylized devotion to an unattainable lady. Over time, troubadours increasingly explored psychological depth, inner conflict, emotional sincerity, and even mystical dimensions of desire.

Saint Martial, mentioned near the end, was a major saint associated with Limoges in Occitania, linking the poem to a real cultural geography of courts, monasteries, and traveling poets.

Author
The poem is a tenso — a formal poetic debate — between Giraut de Bornelh and Raimbaut d'Aurenga.

Giraut de Bornelh (active late 1100s) was widely admired in medieval biographies as a master of clarity and elegance. Later generations even called him “the master of the troubadours.” He favored poetry that balanced refinement with intelligibility.

Raimbaut d’Aurenga (about 1147–1173) was an aristocratic poet associated with experimental and difficult poetic styles. He defended complexity, obscurity, and symbolic richness in poetry. He believed true art should reward effort and discrimination.

The poem likely emerged from real intellectual exchanges among troubadours at noble courts. Medieval audiences enjoyed such debates because they dramatized competing visions of beauty, art, status, and love itself.

Modern Connection
The poem feels surprisingly modern because the debate still exists today. Should art be difficult and demanding, rewarding only careful attention? Or should it be open and accessible to everyone? The same argument appears now in literature, film, music, philosophy, and even academic writing.

Deeper Significance:
At its deepest level, the poem is not really about poetry alone. It is about the meaning of love and human refinement.

For the troubadours, love was not merely romance or attraction. Love was understood as a force that transformed consciousness. A true lover became more disciplined, perceptive, emotionally intense, and spiritually awake. Courtly love was imagined almost as a training of the soul.

Earlier troubadour culture often treated love as aristocratic initiation: the lover proved worthiness through secrecy, suffering, patience, and self-control. Love elevated a man above ordinary life. In this earlier phase, refinement itself became sacred. Difficult poetry matched this worldview because hidden meanings mirrored the hidden depths of noble feeling.

Over time, however, troubadour poetry gradually shifted:
from aristocratic exclusivity -> toward emotional universality;
from coded symbolism -> toward greater psychological openness;
from love as social ritual -> toward love as inward emotional truth;
from stylized distance -> toward vulnerability and self-revelation.

This poem captures that transition in motion.

Raimbaut represents the older aristocratic ideal: beauty should remain rare, difficult, selective, and protected from vulgarity. Love refines only a few souls capable of perceiving it.

Giraut represents a newer tendency: beauty fulfills itself through communication and shared understanding. Poetry should move hearts, not merely display refinement.

Yet the poem ultimately complicates both positions. Even the defender of difficulty becomes emotionally overwhelmed by love itself. Love dissolves intellectual certainty. The debate about poetic style collapses into human vulnerability. The poets begin arguing about art, but they end speaking as wounded lovers.

That is the deepest revelation of the poem: true love exceeds all systems, styles, and theories. It both ennobles and destabilizes. It makes human beings more refined, but also more fragile. The troubadours discovered that the closer one moves toward perfect beauty, the more language itself begins to fail.