Rambertino Buvalelli, “Ges de chantar no·m voill gequir” (BdT 281.5)

Among the poems by the Italian troubadour Rambertino Buvalelli, nearly all of which are love songs, “Ges de chantar no·m voill gequir” does not present particular problems as far as the text’s literal sense and language is concerned: but, unlike other poems by the Bolognese poet (such as the ‘salut’ [BdT 281.3] or the floral tribute to Beatrice d’Este [BdT 281.4]), it has rarely been included in anthologies and has so far received little critical attention. Yet a rereading of the text in the manuscript and in the different editions (from Casini to Melli) leads to the identification of different possibilities for divergent interpretations (contrasting translations and different punctuation), suggested integrations (cf. the ‘tornadas’) and conjectural emendations: a case in hand is the state of the fourth ‘cobla’. From the point of view of form, the author reveals a good literary knowledge: his background is wide and varied as is proved by an examination of motifs and formulae that range from those from the Occitan area to northern Italy.