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D'amor no.m lau, qu'anc non pogey tan aut
Qu'atertam bas non sia dessendutz;
E s'anc fuy guays entendeire ni drutz
Ma dona.m fai tot refrezir del caut,
Que.m tolh tot gaug e tota ira.m dona
E me meteys e tot quan m'a promes,
E mas cansos me semblo sirventes,
Et ieu que.n pert lo cor e la persona.

Qu'ieu fora pro ricx e de bon azaut,
Sol de s'amor pogues yssir a lutz;
Mas trahitz sui si cum fo Ferragutz,
Qu'a Rotlan dis tot so major espaut,
Per on l'aucis; e la bella fellona
Sap (qu'ieu l'ai dig) ab qual gienh m'aucizes:
Ab un dous ris me nafra.l cor d'un pes,
Ab que m'auci on mielhs m'acuelh ni.m sona.

Sol que.l plagues emblar lo premier saut,
Jamais per lieys no fora cossegutz.
Pero s'ieu fos ben amaz ni volgutz
Ieu chantera ab cor verai e baut.
Mas er tenso quar ma dona.m tensona,
Quar sap qu'ieu am mielhs d'autr' hom' e genses;
E.lh trefana, sol quar es belha res,
Vol qu'om la sierv' e ren non guazardona.

Cortz e guerras e torney et assaut
E domneyar e donar e condutz
Son tug mei pes, e so.yl d'amor tengutz,
A la falsa, si tot noqua m'en laut.
Mas mala fos tam belha ni tam bona,
Qu'ab son ric pretz m'a ses benfag conques;
Et ylh val mai, ab sol que.y fos merces,
Que nulh' autra, e genser si razona.

Si m'a bon cor ara.lh prec e l'incaut
Que.m do sa joy' e.m prometa salutz,
Que.n port anelhs e manjas els escutz,
E.m fassa tant per que de lieys no.m raut;
Si non, vau m'en el pays de Tortona,
E si de sai mi deu venir us bes,
A Dieu coman Proensa e Gapenses,
Qu'ieu remanh pres si cum perditz en tona.

I don't enjoy love, since never I perched so high
that equally low I couldn't be cast.
And if I ever was a joyful suitor and lover,
my lady takes me from the warmth and chills me,
for she gives me naught but sorrow, and deprives me of my joy
and of my own self and of all she's promised me.
And now it looks like my love-songs were parodies,
and that I am losing my mind and health.

Indeed I would be rich enough and lucky,
if I only I could break loose from my love of her;
but I am betrayed just as was Ferragutz,
who told Roland about his greatest weakness,
so that he was killed; and the pretty traitor
knows, because I've told her, by which art she could slay me:
with a sweet smile she grieves my heart with a load
with which she kills me when best she entreats me and talks to me.

If she'd only consent to desist from the first attack,
I would never be a match for her.
And yet, if I were welcome and well loved,
I would sing with a true and sprightly heart.
But I am quarrelsome now, since my lady defies me,
because she knows I love better and more nobly than any man;
and this traitress, just because she's a beautiful thing,
wants to be served, and grants no reward.

Courts and wars and tournaments and fights
and wooing and generosity and entertainment
are my whole preoccupation, and yet I am thralled with love
to that false one, albeit it doesn't please me at all.
But a curse on such a lovely and amiable one,
for through her high renown she has gained me with no payment;
and she'd be better, if only she had mercy,
than anyone else, and more charming when speaking, too.

If she cares for me now I pray her and beg her
that she gives me her gift and promise me salvation,
so that I may wear rings and sleeves on my shields,
and that she does enough to prevent my straying from her;
otherwise, I leave for the town of Tortona,
and if from there should come anytihng good for me,
I commend to God Provence and Gap,
where I am held like a partridge in a trap.