Pregueres d'amor: De granea e amor
The Lover's First Plea for Great Love
The Lover sends a sigh and weeping to the Beloved's greatness, and prays for the power of love to be great in him and for great love to be known to many.
The Lover sent. i. A sigh and i. weeping to the greatness and eternity of his Beloved, that it might please them to multiply his love in magnifying and enduring, for he desired to love a great and eternal Beloved.12 ii. "Power of love," said the Lover, "since you are so great in my Beloved, may it please you to be great in my love, which desires the power to love greatly." iii. The Lover prayed that the great love of his Beloved would make itself known to many lovers, so that they might have great love for it; for through ignorance of great love, no one can be a great lover.3
Virtues of Great Love
The Lover prays for his will to be adorned with great love, for the cardinal virtues, for truth, and for wings to rise to the Beloved.
iv. The lover prayed that his will would adorn and clothe itself with great love, with great magnificence and undertakings, since he desired to love and serve the great Beloved.4 v. The lover prayed his Beloved to give him great justice, so that he would sentence himself to bear great labors for love; to give him great prudence, so that he would know how to choose the greatest love; to give him great fortitude, so that he would overcome great temptations; and to give him great temperance, so that he would practice great abstinence; for all these great virtues befit great love.5 vi. The Lover prayed his Beloved to make him love great truth, for with little truth he could not stand against the great falsehood that holds almost the whole world in error and multiplies false love. vii. The Lover prayed to his Beloved to give him great wings of love, with which he could rise up to love him and dwell in his glory.
Endurance and Detachment in Great Love
The Friend prays for indifference to circumstances, for a great accord of opposites, for great labors, and the Lover prays for great love to begin great works.
viii. Beloved, said the Friend: give me such great love that, in loving, honoring, and serving you, I make no difference between laughing and weeping, resting and toiling—for otherwise I could not love you greatly. ix. The Friend prayed Love that, in loving, serving, and honoring his Beloved, Love would give him a great accord of laughing and weeping, toiling and resting, health and sickness; for such accord is necessary for great loving.6 x. Beloved, said the Friend: give me great labors, great adversities to bear for the sake of honoring and serving you, and that I may know what the rests and the pleasures of great loving are. xi. Beloved, said the Lover: since you have started me in loving you, give me great love with which I may begin to love greatly, love that will make me begin great works to praise and adore you greatly, and to lead the peoples to honor and serve you.7
Sustaining and Perfecting Great Love
The Friend prays for love to be rooted in understanding and remembrance, and the Lover prays for the end of love, for sustaining pleasures and labors, for equality of love and loving, and for avoidance of lesser love.
XII. Beloved, said the Friend: set my loving in the midst of great understanding and remembrance, so that my love may be great in loving, praising, and blessing you. 13. Beloved, the Lover said: whoever has great love has great labors for love, and they cannot bear those labors without loving the great end of love. I beg you to make me love that great end every day, so that I can bear the labors of love. 14. The Lover prayed the Beloved to give him such great love that through it he could sustain and bear the greatest pleasures and labors that come from great love. 15. Beloved, said the Lover: you who give great love, give me a great equality of love and loving, so that my love may not be small or idle in anything. xvi. The Lover prayed his Beloved to keep him far from little and lesser love, so that with great and greater love he might take on and carry out great deeds in service of his honor.8
Read the original Catalan
Lamic tramès . j. suspir e . j. plor a la granea e eternitat de son amat quels plagués montiplicar sa amor en magnificar e durar, car gran e eternal amat desirava amar.
ij. Poder damor, dix lamic: pus que en mon amat sots tan gran, plassiaus que siats gran en ma amor, qui desira poder de gran amar.
iij. Pregava lamic la gran amor de son amat ques feés conèxer a molts amadors, per so que aguessen a ela gran amor; car per ignorància de gran amor no pot ésser gran amador.
iiij. Pregava lamic sa volentat ques ornàs es vestís de gran amor grans magnificències e enpreniments, pus que desirava amar e servir gran amat. V. Lamic pregà son amat que li donàs gran justícia, per so ques jutjàs a grans trebayls sustenir per amor; e que li donàs gran prudència, per so que sabés eligir la pus gran amor; e que li donàs gran fortitudo, per so que vensés grans temptacions; e que li donàs gran tempransa, per so que agués gran abstinència; car totes aqueles granees de vertuts se covenen a gran amor.
vj. Pregava lamic son amat que li feés amar gran veritat, car ab poca veritat no podia contrastar a la gran falsetat qui té quax tot lo mon en error, e montiplica falsa amor.
vij. Pregava lamic son amat que li donàs grans ales damor ab que pogués pujar a él amar, e en la sua glòria estar.
viij. Amat, dix lamic: donam tan gran amor que, en tu amar onrar e servir, no fassa differencia enfre riure e plorar, sejornar e trebaylar, car en altra manera not puria molt amar. viiij. Pregava lamic amor que, en amar servir e honrar son amat, li donàs gran concordansa de riure e plorar, trebaylar e sejornar, sanitat e malautia; car aytal concordansa es necessària a gran amar. X. Amat, dix lamic: donam grans trebayls, grans aversitats a sostenir per tu honrar e servir, e que sapia què son los sejorns els plaers de gran amar.
xj. Amat, dix lamic: pus que m às comensat a tu amar, donam gran amor ab qui pusca comensar gran amar, lo qual me fassa comensar grans obres a tu molt loar adorar, e a les gents fer honrar e servir.
xij. Amat, dix lamic: fé estar lo meu amar en lo mig de gran entendre e membrar, per so que sia ma amor gran en tu amar loar e beneir.
xiij. Amat, dix lamic: qui ha gran amor, ha grans trebayls per amor, els trebayls no pot sostenir sens amar gran fi d amor; la qual gran fi te prec quem fasses tots jorns amar, per so que Is trebayls d amor pusca sostenir. xiiij. Pregava lamic lamat que li donàs tan gran amor, que per ela pogués sostenir e portar los majors plaers e trebayls qui esdevenen per gran amor. XV. Amat, dix lamic: tu qui dones gran amor, donam gran egualtat damor e amar, per so que la mia amor no sia en res poca ni ociosa.
xvj. Pregava lamic son amat quel lunyàs de poca e menor amor, per so que ab gran e major amor pogués grans feitz emparar e complir a tractar sa honor.
Notes
- 1 ↩Source montiplicar treated as multiplicar ('multiply'), a recurring medieval Catalan spelling in this work.
- 2 ↩quels plagués: 'them' refers to the personified greatness and eternity of the Beloved, addressed as the objects of the Lover's sigh and weeping.
- 3 ↩Medieval Catalan keeps amor feminine here (la gran amor; a ela). The pronoun refers to that great love, not to the Beloved.
- 4 ↩Old Catalan 'magnificències e enpreniments' rendered as 'magnificences and undertakings' (splendid deeds and enterprises); 'pus que' taken as causal 'since'.
- 5 ↩'ques jutjàs a grans trebayls sustenir' rendered as self-sentencing to endure great labors; 'granees de vertuts' kept as 'greatnesses of the virtues' to match the chapter theme of granea.
- 6 ↩amor is personified as the power addressed in prayer (Pregava lamic amor), distinct from son amat (his Beloved).
- 7 ↩Catalan 'm às comensat a tu amar' is rendered as God's initiating the Lover's loving ('begun me in loving you'), not merely the Lover's own first efforts.
- 8 ↩Old Catalan emparar can mean protect/shelter or take on/undertake; paired with complir and grans feitz, rendered as take on.
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