Guillem Peire de Cazals, “Be·m plagr’ueymais qu’ab vos dona·m valgues” (BdT 227.6)

This paper proposes a new edition with commentary of the poem “Be·m plagr’ueymais qu’ab vos, dona, ·m valgues” by Guillem Peire de Cazals and represents a first critical and hermeneutical reassessment of the poetry of the troubadour from Cahors, that has long been neglected. The text presents the classical structure of a love-story (springtime exordium, singing brought on by love, the theme of improvement, courting with no hope of a reward, a request for mercé) and invites the fin aman to be patient. The song is examined from the viewpoint of its metrical and stylistic relations to other troubadour poems (Bernart de Ventadorn, “Can par la flors josta·l vert folh” [BdT 70.41] and “La dousa votz ai auzida” [BdT 70.23] and Lanfranc Cigala, “Ioios d’amor farai de ioi senblan” [BdT 282.12]), and represents an early example of the mannerisms and experimental tendencies that characterize Guillem Peire’s poems. The article also attempts to date the composition to the twenties or thirties of the 13th century.