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a collection of literature from poets, bards, songwriters, and skalds in the SCA

I saw upon the pier one day

dunstan's picture
dunstan
Poem (Canso): 

I.
I saw upon the pier one day
A maiden faire in every way
And though the skies were dull and gray
She brightened up the bleary dock
She cleaned the harvest of the bay
And descaled fish around her lay
Of herring she had goodly stock.

II.
“Faire maid, for you I fear,” I said
“The sun is gone, the wind blows dread
no woolen cap to warm your head
adorns you on this cheerless dock”
Said she “the wind I freely shed
And For this weather was I bred
I have no need for cape or frock.”

III.
“Tis most unseemly” I did cry
“that you alone should have to lie
with only fish to poke and pry
upon this breezy wooden dock-
Is not your father near the by?
If you were mine, you’d have my eye
I’d count you chief among my flock.”

IV.
“A monger’s daughter I may be
born to those of low degree
but due to this I know I’m free
to grace this common ocean dock
and those of common sense will see
that none of high born company
was meant this windy place to walk.”

V.
“Though Monger’s daughter you were born
a beauty doth your face adorn
which leaves me feeling most forlorn
to be denied this ocean dock
your words do make my spirit mourn
and wish that you would show less scorn
and not intend this sir to mock.”

VI.
“For many generations gone
my family has met the dawn
and harvested the ocean’s spawn
and smelled of fish upon this dock
and yet,” she said with stifled yawn,
“A smell that is not fish or prawn
comes from you when I hear you talk.

VII.
“Oh, herring mongers’ daughter, few
are beautiful and wise and true
and certainly I think that you
should leave this sad, unseemly dock
and with me try of something new
we’ll make just one where once were two
upon this smooth and speckled rock.”

VIII.
“Sir, how can you dare to persist
in actions you should now desist?
you shall not here be held or kissed
upon this lonely, windy dock
throughout the day I will resist
and if you feel you must insist
I’ll have you thrown into the stock.

IX.
“But if on me you will depend
I swear to you to make amend
And your sweet honor I’ll defend
So swear I upon this dock
If only you will be a friend
Then you and I to earth descend
Together til the cry of cock.

X.
“Sir, as I stand upon this pier
I say to you I have no fear
That anything should happen here
Upon this hallowed herring’s dock
I’m sure you hold your manhood dear
And if it should by chance appear
It shall meet with my scaling block.

XI.
My lady, you are most unkind
Of evil heart, and unrefined
And so I will now leave this dock.

XII.
My Lord, a catch I hope to find;
You aren’t the one I had in mind
Good day, good sir; enjoy your walk.

Documentation / Explanation (Razo): 

ABOUT THE POEM 

This poem is based upon a Pastoral written by Marcabru, a well known troubadour of the first half of the twelfth century. There are several surviving works by Marcabru ( 42 remain intact, 4 of which, including this one, have music to them) (1, page 51). They range from songs of war to songs of love. Like some of the other troubadours of the time, Marcabru had a very biting wit that he was not afraid to use to criticize things he did not approve of. He was also one of the ‘racier’ troubadours in that he was not afraid to make direct references to unseemly acts. Marcabru was an avid proponent of ‘High Love’ (what some others would call ‘courtly love’ or ‘Fin’amor’) and an avid critic of ‘low love’, which others might just call lust.

One of the acts which Marcabru denounces in several of his works is the mixing of social stations- wherein a member of the upper classes attempts to seduce a member the lower classes. This was a disgusting act to Marcabru, as is evidenced in this translation of another poem he wrote:

‘a lady who loves her farmhand
just doesn’t know refined love
no, she’s got the bitch’s instinct
like the greyhound for the cur’.
(From Reference #3, page 70)

In ‘L’autrier jost’una sebissa’, the poem in which this work is based, Marcabru certainly shows his disdain for one who would practice low love- especially with a member of the lower classes! (the full poem this work is based on is included, with translation, in this documentation, along with an image of the document in which it can be found. )

I personalized this poem by making it a fish monger’s daughter upon the docks. As the father of two young daughters, it is my hope that this will serve them as a lesson of how to act when confronted with pushy ne’er do wells. (A Scaling block, by the way, is a grooved piece of wood upon which one would lay the fish in order to keep it in place while using a sharp knife to clean the scales off of it. Scaling blocks would not be found on docks, but in households. I took some artistic liberty. Go figure.)

 

THE MECHANICS 
I wrote this poem in English for one simple reason: I do not speak French. The rhyme scheme is rigorous enough that I chose not to even collaborate with a fluent speaker of French, as I feared that enough liberty in translation would have to be taken to effectively transfer rhyme scheme that my original work in English would be ruined. (Having said that, I would still like to get this work translated into French whether it rhymes or not.)

Meter scheme in the original poem consists of 7 line verses in roughly iambic quatrameter (8 syllables with every other one being stressed). Rhyme scheme is as follows:

1st verse: AAABAAB 2nd verse: CCCBCCB and so on.

With B being consistent throughout the whole poem (in the original Marcabru uses the word for peasant girl in the fourth line and rhymes it with a varying word in every seventh line of every verse. I use the word dock and do the same. This rhyme scheme changes slightly in the last two verses, which are simply end statements by the two characters:

AAB
AAB

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

  1. Goldin, Frederick. Lyrics of the Troubadours and Trouveres: An Anthology and History. Gloucester, MA: Peter Smith Press, 1983.
  2. Rochefort, Deborah. "The Troubadours." From Compleat Anachronist #44, Society for Creative Anachronisms, 1989.
  3. Wilhelm, James. Seven Troubadours: the Creators of Modern Verse. University Park, PA: Penn Stae University Press, 1970.
  4. Image of Medieval Manuscript taken from the website http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/medst/medieval_lyric/marcabru/ms.html