| Eissamen ai gerreiat ab amor | I've waged war on Love in the very way |
| Co.l francs vassals gerrei' ab mal seignor, | Virtuous vassal brings loathsome lord mêlée | |
| Qe.il tol sa terr' a tort, per que.l gerreia, | Who loots his land as though to irk him idly; | |
| E qan conois qe.il gerra pro no.il te, | But when no satisfaction can he seize, | |
| Pel sieu cobrar ven puois a sa merce. | He sues for recent rights upon his knees. | |
| Et eu ai tant de joi cobrar enveia | I long for laughter lost, so I contritely | |
| C'ad amor qier merce del sieu pechat | Beg Love forgive what Love itself has brought | |
| E mon orgoill torn en humilitat. | And pray my pride humility be taught. | |
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| Gauch ai cobrat, merce de la meillor, | She restores the happiness gone astray, | |
| Qe.m restaura la dan q'ai pres aillor, | Pains impaling me elsewhere to repay, | |
| E s'amistat per plaich d'amor m'autreia | And beautifully with friendship she delights me, | |
| Ma bella dompn' e per sieu mi rete | Retaining me in service with franchise, | |
| E.m promet tant per qe.l reprovier cre | And I believe, by gorgeous guarantees, | |
| Que ditz: "qui ben gerreia, ben plaideia"; | The words, "In mighty struggles, gains are mighty," | |
| Q'en chantan ai ab amor gerreiat | Because, in singing, Love I have so fought | |
| Tant c'ab midonz n'ai meillor plait trobat. | That with my lady I've improved my lot. | |
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| El mon non a rei ni emperador | Any king or prince in this world would pray | |
| Q'en lieis amar non agues plaich d'onor, | To love her and feel honored every day, | |
| Car sa valors e sos pretz seignoreia | For with her merit and her worth presides she | |
| Sobre totas las pros dompnas c'om ve, | Above all lovely ladies that one sees; | |
| Car mieills s'enanss' e plus gen si capte | She holds herself more highly, with more ease, | |
| E mieills acuoill e mieills parl' e dompneia, | And keeps more courtly arts and speaks more brightly | |
| E mostr' als pros son pretz e sa beutat, | And shows the bold her beauty past all thought, | |
| Salva s'onor, e reten de totz grat. | And guards her honor, pleasing as she ought. | |
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| Dompna, ben sai, si merces no.m socor, | Maybe, if no mercy with me will stay, | |
| Qu'eu non vaill tant qe.us taign' ad amador, | From what's fitting your lover I will stray; | |
| Car tant valetz, per que mos cors feuneia | You are so worthy that frustration smites me: | |
| Car non puosc far tant rics faitz co.us cove | I cannot manage what my mind agrees | |
| A mi qe.us am; empero no.m recre | Your friend must do, and yet I do not freeze | |
| De vos amar, que vassals, puois derreia, | My heart, just as a soldier wandering widely | |
| Deu poigner tant tro fassa colp honrat, | Must struggle 'til he strikes a noble shot: | |
| Per q'ie.us enquis pois m'aguetz conseill dat. | Thus, after you advised me, you I sought. | |
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| S'ieu non sui rics segon vostra ricor | That my birth was noble I cannot say, | |
| Ni pro valens a vostra gran valor, | Nor have I enough valor to convey; | |
| Mon poder fatz, e sui cel qe.us merceia | I do my best, so pity please provide me, | |
| E.us serv e.us blan e vos am mais que re | And let me laud you, live by your decrees, | |
| E.m gart de mal e m'esfortz de tot be | And strive for good, as love from evil flees: | |
| Per vostr' amor, e mieills mi par que deia | It's all for you; I think a man who's knightly | |
| Pros dompn' amar bon cavallier prezat | A better man to love than him who's not: | |
| Endreich d'amor c'un ric outracujat. | A nobleman whose virtue can be bought. | |
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| Vostre beill huoill plazen, galiador, | Yet your eyes deceit and delight display, | |
| Rizon d'aisso don eu sospir e plor, | And they laugh at what leads to my dismay; | |
| E l'adreitz cors q'ades genss' e coindeia | Your upright figure, so refined and sprightly, | |
| M'auci aman, tals enveia m'en ve! | Will kill me, so impassioned are my pleas! | |
| E si ab vos non trob amor e fe, | If you with truest love do not appease, | |
| Mais no.m creirai en ren c'auia ni veia, | I'll never trust what I might hear or might see, | |
| Ni.m fiarai en dompna d'aut barat, | Nor hope a highborn lady will not plot, | |
| Ni ja non vuoill c'autra.m don s'amistat. | Nor find her friendship makes me so distraught. | |
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| Bels Cavalliers, vostr' amors mi guerreia, | My Fairest Knight, your love in triumph fights me; | |
| E prec merce e franc' humilitat | I pray what real humility has wrought | |
| C'aissi.us venssa cum vos m'avetz sobrat. | May conquer you as quite as I was caught. | |
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| Na Beatritz, las melhors an enveya | Dame Beatrice, all ladies envy rightly | |
| De vostre pretz e de vostra beutat, | Your worth and beauty, which without one blot | |
| Que gensa vos e.l don de Monferrat. | Adorn you and the Lord of Monferrat. | |
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| Raimbaut de Vaqueiras | Carol Anne Perry Lagemann | |