NATIONAL POETRF. 



were highly appreciated by Dante ; and the poetry of the troubadours was 

 specially .notable for its gracefulness of invention, science of rhythm, infinite 

 variety of form, abundant imagery, and richness of colour. Most of it con- 

 sisted of love- songs and pastorals, but there were some religious and satirical 

 pieces, many of the latter being very severe, known by the name of sirventes. 



When certain strolling jugglers of the South imported the poems of the 

 troubadours into the central and northern provinces of France in the beginning 



Mouvement anirni. 





Us gays co-norlz me fai gay -a - men far ga-ya chan-so gai fag 









-t-l 



e gai sem-blan. Gay de - zi-rier io-ios gai a - le - grar. Per gai- 



a ton - ap gai cors ben es 



tan. Ab cuy tro bom gai so - latz c 







6- 



gai ri - re. Gai - ia culh-ir. Gai de port. Gai io - vcn. 





Gai-a beutalz. Gaichan-tar, Gai al-bi - re. Gaiditz pla - zen. 





Gaiioi, Gaipretz. Gai sen. I-eu soi gais, car soi sieus li - na - men 



Fig. 332. Song of the Troubadour, Pons de Capdeuil, with the Music. Published by Fetis, after 

 Manuscript in National Library, Paris. 



of the thirteenth century, these provinces had long possessed a native poetry 

 in the vulgar tongue, and they also possessed poets who called themselves 

 trouveurs (Fig. 333), to distinguish them from the jugglers who had been in 

 the habit, for three or four centuries past, of singing popular songs while 

 playing upon different stringed instruments. As soon as the Romanic 

 language of Northern France had made sufficient progress to become a 

 written language, poetry was its spontaneous expression. It was to indicate 



