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Medieval Music Database

Esperance qui m'asseure

ballade by Guillaume de Machaut

Sources

New York: Wildenstein Collection, fol. 302v (2/1);
Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, fonds français 843 (text); Bibliothèque Nationale, fonds français 1584 (MachA), fol. 461 (2/1); Bibliothèque Nationale, fonds français 1585 (MachB), fol. 300v (2/1); Bibliothèque Nationale, fonds français 1586 (MachC), fol. 163v (2/1); Bibliothèque Nationale, fonds français 9221 (MachE), fol. 147v (2/1); Bibliothèque Nationale, fonds français 22546 (MachG), fol. 138v (2/1);
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Library, French MS 15, number 162 (text).

Editions

1. Guillaume de Machaut: Musikalische Werke. Erster Band: Balladen, Rondeaux und Virelais, edited by Friedrich Ludwig, Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1926, p. 12.
2. The Works of Guillaume de Machaut, Second Part, edited by Leo Schrade, Monaco: Editions de L'Oiseau-Lyre, 1956. Polyphonic Music of the Fourteenth Century III, p. 84.

Text Editions

Guillaume de Machaut: poésies lyriques, 2 vols., edited by V. Chichmaref, Paris: 1909, p. 548.

Literature

1. MACHABEY, Armand. Guillaume de Machault, 130?-1377: La vie et l'oeuvre musicale, 2 vols, Paris: Richard-Masse-Editeur, 1955. Bibliothèque d'études musicales, p. 28.
2. GÜNTHER, Ursula. Der musikalische Stilwandel der französischen Liedkunst in der zweiten Hälfte des 14. Jahrhunderts, dargestelt an Virelais, Balladen und Rondeax von Machaut., Ph.D. dissertation, University of Hamburg: 1957, Chapter 4.1.
3. SALOP, Arnold. 'The secular polyphony of Guillaume de Machaut', [chapter 2 of his] Studies on the History of Musical Style, Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1971, pp. 51-52.
4. DÖMLING, Wolfgang. 'Aspekte der Sprachvertonung in den Balladen Guillaume de Machauts', Die Musikforschung, XXV/3 (1972), p. 303.
5. SWARTZ, Anne. 'A new chronology of the ballades of Machaut', Acta Musicologica, XLVI (1974): 192-207.
6. ARLT, Wulf. 'Aspekte der Chronologie und des Stilwandels im französischen Lied des 14. Jahrhunderts', Forum Musicologicum (Aktuelle Fragen der musikbezogenen Mittelalterforschung), vol. III, Basel: Amadeus Verlag, 1975, pp. 239-249.
7. HIRSHBERG, Jehoash. 'Hexachordal and modal structure in Machaut's polyphonic chansons', Studies in Musicology in Honor of Otto E. Albrecht, 1980.
8. GÜNTHER, Ursula. 'Contribution de la musicologie à la biographie et à la chronologie de Guillaume de Machaut', Guillaume de Machaut, poète et compositeur. Colloque - Table Ronde, 1978, pp. 95-116.
9. BENT, Margaret. 'The Machaut manuscripts Vg, B and E', Musica Disciplina, XXXVII (1983), p. 82.

Text

Esperance qui m'asseure.
Joie sans per, vie a mon weil.
Dous penser, sade nourriture.
Tres bon eur, plaisant accueil
Et meint autre grant bien recueil.
Quant Amours m'a tant enrichi
Que j'aim dame, s'aten merci.

Et se cest atente m'est dure
En desirant, pas ne m'en dueil.
Car le gre de ma dame pure
Et d'Amours tous jours faire weil.
Et s'a guerredon sans pareil.
Ce m'est vis, puis qu'il est einsi
Que j'aim dame, s'aten merci.

Car souvenirs en moy figure
Sa fine biaute sans orgueill
Sa bonte, sa noble figure.
Son gent maintieng, son bel accueil.
Et comment si dous riant oueil
Par leur attrait m'ont mene, si
Que j'aim dame, s'aten merci.

Translation

Hope which assures me.
Joy without peer, life to my wish.
Sweet thought, tasty nourishment.
Most good fortune, charming welcome
And many more great benefits I receive.
For Love has so enriched me
That I love a lady, and await her grace.

And if this waiting is hard for me
As I yearn, I do not grieve at it.
For the pleasure of my noble lady
And of Love I wish always to do.
Then is my reward without equal.
I believe, since it is so
That I love a lady, and await her grace.

For memory depicts in my mind
Her rare beauty without disdain.
Her goodness, her noble features.
Her courtly manner, her fair welcome.
And the way her sweet laughing eyes
By their attraction have drawn me, so
That I love a lady, and await her grace.

Text revision and translation © Jennifer Garnham



Content Approved by: MMDB Director
Last updated: Wednesday, 19 March 2003


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