Guglielmo di Poitiers, “Ab la dolchor del temps novel” (BdT 183.1)

Abstract

This paper will put forward some possible new interpretations for selected passages in “Ab la douzor del temps novel” by William of Aquitaine. The term ‘vers’, for example, has always been paraphrased in different ways, but its primary meaning might be that provided by the naturalistic context: in the spring birds twitter among the branches, they produce a ‘verse’. Thus the literal meaning of ‘vers’ could be that of ‘a characteristic sound produced by the vocal organs of a particular animal (mainly a bird)’. As for l. 15, instead of the traditional image of the hawthorn branch ‘tremblan’ (‘trembling’) on the tree, the alternative reading entrenan (the branch ‘stands firmly on the tree’, ‘resists the elements’) is preferred, which could well be a lectio difficilior. The paper will end by providing a commentary to the text. The edition used is Eusebi, with some corrections.

Keywords

• Guilhem de Peitieus
• Troubadours
• Old Occitan
• Textual criticism
• Interpretation