trobaire.org

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

By Night and By Day

dunstan's picture
dunstan
Poem (Canso): 

I oft rejoice when first I rise
And open up my weary eyes
For next to me my lady lies-
A day is dawning fresh and new.
By night I dream of many things
By day I dream of only you.

And waking with the rising sun
A new adventure has begun
I do not know what will be done
I know one thing that must be true
By night I dream of many things
By day I dream of only you.

My thoughts of her are always kind
And help me with my troubled mind
And when I dream of her I find
The things I need in life are few.
By night I dream of many things
By day I dream of only you.

Late at night In dreams I’ll go
to places I knew long ago
and others I may never know
they end when sunlight comes in view
By night I dream of many things
By day I dream of only you.

So when the sky begins to gray
And night begins replacing day
I know before I drift away
I’ll savor one last kiss from you;
By night I dream of many things
By day I dream of only you.

Documentation / Explanation (Razo): 

I have been spending a fair amount of time over the last year writing poems and songs in honor of many things- My Barony, My Baronessa, My Baron, My Kingdom, My Queen, etc. Of course each of these topics has been an important and worthwhile subject. But I am a gentle who knows which side of my bread is buttered, and I realized that it had been quite some time since I had written something for my greatest love in life, my wife, Lady Tangwystl ferch Morgana.

It was my desire to write her a poem professing my love for her in as close to a period format as I could. My persona is from the year 1189. After perusing several books on the troubadours, I came across a lyrical poem I really liked. The title of it was ‘Cant voi l’aube dou jor venir’. (When I see Daybreak coming on). I admired it for it’s rhyme, it’s meter, and it’s subject matter, which was love (and I don’t mean the courtly type). Of course, that particular poem is about an adulterer who hates daybreak because it takes his lover away and back to her husband. I, of course, was going to approach it from the opposite side as the husband who reveled in daybreak because I would wake in the arms of the woman I love. There is a Middle English version of this poem as well (both poem and further documentation are available via this link).