Classic Poem

When the sweet air grows bitter,
And the leaf falls from the branch,
And the birds change their chatter,
I also sigh and sing here
Of love which holds me tied and bound,
For I have never had it in my power.

Alas! I have never gained anything from love
Except the suffering and the anguish,
And nothing is so hard to win over
As that which I desire;
And nothing fills me with such desire
As does that which I cannot have.

I exult for a fine jewel,
And nothing have I ever loved as much;
When I am with her, I am so overcome
That I cannot tell her my desire;
And when I go away, it seems to me
That I may completely lose my sense and my mind.

The most beautiful woman ever seen
Is not worth a glove compared to her;
When all the world grows dark,
It is radiant where she is;
I will pray to God that he may still give her to me,
Or that I may see her going to bed.

I shake, shiver, and tremble
For her love, asleep and awake;
I am so afraid of failing,
That I don't dare think of how to ask for her;
But I will serve her for two or three years,
And then perhaps she will know the truth.

I do not live or die or am cured,
Or feel pain, and yet it is great,
For I can guess nothing about her love,
I do not know when or if I shall have it;
For in her is all the mercy
That can raise me up or cast me down.

I love it when she drives me crazy
And makes me gape, dreaming;
I love it when she mocks me
Or makes fun of me openly or behind my back;
For after the bad will come the good
Soon, if I succeed in pleasing her.

If she does not want me, I wish I had died
The day she took me in command;
Alas! how sweetly she killed me
When she gave me her look of love;
For she confined me in such a way
That I wish to see no other.

I am very anxious, and rejoice so,
For if I fear or flatter her,
Through her shall I be false or true,
In the right or full of deceit,
Completely base or courtly,
In suffering or in happiness.

But despite whom it may please or weigh upon,
She may, if she wishes, retain me.

Cercamon says: it will be difficult
For a man who despairs of love to be courtly.