Bernart De Ventadorn

Just a couple quick thoughts on two poems.

First, poem number 24 had this solemn undertone. What I got out of it was basically that love makes you an easy victim because you are so overwhelmed and blinded. There is a dangerous aspect introduced in the quote “I am destroyed by my desiring,” literally meaning that not achieving your desires could lead to a person’s lack of existence. By the same token, a few poems back in number 22, the poet suggests that the moment you stop loving, you stop really living. Another way of looking at this statement could be that you never stop loving, whether you realize that love or not, until the moment you die. Back to poem 24, it reads “when it pleases her, she gives me comfort and honors me and when it pleases her, I make do with less” which signals a heavy female dominance in this real or imaginary relationship in which he is catering to her every need, as suggested in poem 22 when he says that being in love is somewhat like being a servant because of this desire to be and provide everything she needs.