ABSTRACT
Sir Uc de Saint Circ loved a lady from Treviso whose name was Lady Stazailla. He served and honored her with praise and renown and composed good songs about her and she gratefully accepted the love and prayers and attentions and said to him many pleasing things and promised him many pleasures. But she was the sort of lady who wants all men of high standing and worth to pay her court, so she accepted prayers and attentions from all of them and promised all of them pleasures to be done and said, and she did this with many men. Sir Uc was jealous about what he saw and heard and so he came to war with her and broke with her. But she was not a lady who feared criticism or gossip or negative stories about her. For a long time Uc carried on a war with her but she gave it little attention. Every day Uc expected her to seek peace and a treaty with him that would place him once again in a position such that he would compose a delightful song about her. When he saw that she was not about to come around to this stance, he composed a song about his explanation for what had happened and it goes like this: For a long time I waited…
Song 457, 18
Uc de Saint Circ: “Longamen ai atenduda…”
Source: Jeanroy/Salverda de Grave, 50.
MSS: A 156, B 95, C 224, D 79–280, Dc 257, F 23, Fa 62,1 128, K 114, N2 6, R 26–219, T 199, b 3.
1. For a long time I have waited For an appropriate subject About which to compose a pleasing song, But up to now it has not come to me. And if you want to know about the reason 1 5 I have for composing a true song, It will be divided into two parts: A joyous and a sad song, Praising the good I have had And mourning for what I have lost 10 2. God helps those he loves And he loved me for a long time. He gave me a rich and sensual love For you, which I have now lost Oh God, so pleasurable was 15 The joy, and how much I relished it! What an agreeable life I had! But now that is over for me. I feel like I have fallen low from on high And my body (heart) is stripped of all rich joy. 2 20 3. As to the honor that I received From your willing body, I now have a sad and mourning heart; For I see that the desire within you Which you had at the time 25 That God was on my side is changing. Oh, this parting is so painful for me! And if love is finished Then I curse the fact that I ever saw your body And all the good that I knew there. 3 30 4. It’s a mad body which thinks and perceives That what disgraces it brings it merit; And for a madman, nothing is apparent 184I have seen such a one fall Who had been greatly renowned 35 For her worth and appearance. For she who is guided by madness Thinks she is enriched When she sees that her slightest actions Turn into accusations and rumors. 40 5. Once a lady has fallen from esteem Due to blame over a failing, There is no coming back: Honor greets her from afar. For it is very difficult for a lady 45 To find pardon for a true failing. Rather, they all run at her, screaming at her, And by the time the affair is forgotten The rumor has traveled so far That she has become a pariah. 4 50 6. Lady, if you are angry With me, never will I defend myself Or turn from you, or run off; For never since I have known you Have I had any desire 55 For any other, even if I should find No help or protection with you. For to me you are so pleasing That I do not want God to help me Or to give me joy and health, unless it be through you. 5 7. He who seeks reason 6 61 In a place where justice is not known Is committing an error; And there where faults are criticized Honor should be recognized. 6 5 But I have only lately come to know What hurts me and has been hurting me.