Gausbert de Poicibot, “Be·s cuget venjar Amors” (BdT 173.2)

This paper offers a commentary and a new critical edition of Gausbert de Poicibot’s poem “Be·s cuget venjar Amors”, which apparently belongs to the genre of the ‘mala chanso’, that was particularly popular during the period that the Limousin poet was active. To abandon love enables the poet to recuperate reason and ‘sen’ and to justify, almost in didactic terms, his separation from the lady, thus clearly showing that he had so far sung the praises of a lady who was not worthy of receiving them. The song is also compared to other typical examples of the subgenre to which it belongs, such as “Si be·m partetz, mala dompna, de vos” by Gui d’Uissel (BdT 194.19), considered to be paradigmatic of the ‘mala chanso’ and probably familiar to Gausbert de Poicibot, though it will be pointed out that this poetic mode has roots in the work of troubadours of previous generations, such as Bernart de Ventadorn and Raimbaut d’Aurenga, whom Gausbert seems to use as models.