Provençal song

Louisoun

In Provençal: Louisoun

Song no. 25 Damase Arbaud, 1862

Song no. 25 from the collection Chants populaires de la Provence by Damase Arbaud (1814-1876), published in 1862. Public domain. The text follows Arbaud's own spelling, which predates the Félibrige standard, and is reproduced unchanged.

Text

N'es la belo Louisoun Que disoun qu'es tant belo; Elo per sa beoutat Es istal deraubeio, Par quatr' ou cinq dragouns Que venien de l'armeio. Lou plus jouine des-tres Aqueou l'a deraubeio, La mounto sur grisoun Sur la blanc' haqueneio, La meno autant luench Cinquanto-doues journeios. D'eiçà nen vei venir Lou laquai de soun pero, — Ah! digo dounc, laquai, Que fan dins nouestro terro ? — Per vous, belo Louisoun, L'y ant toujours grand guerro. — Guerro l'y agoun plus Que iou siou marideio ; — Se marideio siatz Dounetz-me la livreio ; Sept canos de ribans L'y a mes à soun espeio. — Adiou, belo Louisoun, Que dir' à vouestre pero ? — Que ma petito sur La tengoun pas tant belo, Que iou per ma beoutat Siou istat deraubeio.

English translation of the full text forthcoming.

Notes

This narrative ballad tells of the abduction of the beautiful Louisoun by dragoons returning from the army. The youngest of the three soldiers carries her far away, until she declares herself already married in order to protect herself. Arbaud notes the song's unusual form, built in three-line stanzas rhyming by assonance, close to Dante and Petrarch's tercets, a form he attributes to the frequent rhyme in "èro".

Notable words

Provençal	French
haqueneio	haquenée, jument de parade
dragouns	dragons, soldats de cavalerie
livreio	livrée
espeio	épée
deraubeio	enlevée, dérobée
armeio	armée

Glosses are given in French, as delivered by our lexicographic source; an English gloss is not yet available for these words.

Source: Damase Arbaud, Chants populaires de la Provence, 1862, song no. 25. Public domain. Digitization: https://archive.org/details/chantspopulaire00arbagoog. Transcription and formatting by Lingua Nostra.