Accidents d'amor: 9. De la sepultura de l'amic qui morí per amor
The Shroud of Love
The pages of love wash the lover's body with his own tears and wrap him in white, red, and golden samite, signifying his purity, martyrdom, and proven loyalty.
When the Friend had died for love, the pages of love bathed and washed him with the tears the Friend had shed for love, which tears Remembrance of Love had kept stored; and they covered him with1 a2 beautiful white samite, as a sign that the Friend was cleansed of his sins. Upon that white samite they laid one3 other red samite, as a sign that the Friend was a martyr for love; and upon that red samite they laid one4 other golden samite, as a sign that the Friend had been proven and had been loyal to his Beloved and to love.
The Funeral Service of Love
The lover's body is laid on a bed of patience and humility, carried to the church of love, where Life of Love sings prayers and delivers a eulogy praising the lover's virtues, causing the ladies and young men to weep.
Afterwards they laid the Friend's body in one5 a bed of patience and humility, and with love's candles lit, they carried him to the church of love. 2. When the Friend's body was in the church of love, Life of Love, clothed in holiness and virtues, sang and said the prayers, because the Friend's soul had gone into true life to remain forever with his Beloved; and the roots of love answered Life of Love, and the young men of love held the candles of love.6 3. At the Friend's burial, a very great and solemn prayer was offered. Life of Love preached and praised the Friend highly, recounting the sorrows and hardships he had borne as a good and great lover. And because of the great praises the preacher of love was speaking of the Friend, the ladies and young men of love wept, feeling deep pity and sorrow at the Friend's death—for they had consented to it and helped bring it about.7
The Epitaph and the Mourning
The young men place the lover's body in a vessel of love, write a lengthy epitaph extolling his virtues, and then accompany Lady Love as she weeps for the friend she loved.
4. In a8 The young men placed the Friend's body in a beautiful vessel of love, of glory, and of truth, humility, and compassion, and they gave the poles, the candles, and the bier to the poor who beg alms for love more intensely than from need of food and sleep.910 5. Upon the vessel and the stone of love the youths of love wrote this epitaph: «Here lies the Friend, dead for his Beloved and for love; a Friend who loved his Beloved with good, great, and lasting love; a Friend who was a strong fighter for love, and who had great discernment and wisdom in loving and honoring his Beloved; a Friend who gave to the Beloved and to love all his will and strength, and all the time of his life; a Friend who had true love without hypocrisy and vainglory; a Friend who made no distinction between the pleasures and the hardships he had for love, for all of them were pleasing to him; a Friend who had concord and solace with his Beloved through love, and who opposed false love and false lovers; a Friend who began many good works to honor his Beloved and good love; a Friend who in the middle place of love kept at every hour his remembering, understanding, and loving for his Beloved and for love; a Friend who whatever he did and said, did and said for the sake of love's end, which is his Beloved; a Friend who at every moment sought greater love and fled from lesser; a Friend who kept his remembering, understanding, and loving in equal measure in serving and honoring love and his Beloved; a humble, patient, loyal, bold, learned, generous, and holy Friend, full of every good, who has enlightened many lovers to honor and serve his Beloved and his love.»111213 6. When the squires of love had written the epitaph and moistened the letters with love's longings, sighs, and tears, they all together, with the roots of love, accompanied Lady Love as far as the house where the Friend died for love; and Lady Love wept and mourned the Friend whom she greatly loved, and by whom she had long been loved, served, and honored.
Read the original Catalan
Can lamic fo mort per amor, los donzels damor lo banyaren cl lavaren ab les làgremes que lamic avia gitades per amor, les quals làgremes avia estojades membransa damor; e cobrirenlo ab . j. beli sàmit blanc, a significansa quel amic era mundat de sos peccats. Sobre aquel sàmit blanc posaren . j. altre sàmit vermel, a significansa que lamic era màrtir per amor; e sobre aquel sàmit vermell posaren . j. altre sàmit daur, a significansa que lamic era provat e estat leyal a son amat e amor.
Après posaren lo cors del amic en . j. lit de paciència e de humilitat, e ab cires damor il·luminats, portarenlo a lesgleia damor.
2. Can lo cors de lamic fo en lesgleya damor, cantà vida damor vestida de sanctetat e vertuts, e dix les oracions, per so car l ànima de lamic era anada en vera vida estar perpetualment' ab son amat; e les rails damor responien a vida damor, e los donzels damor tenien los cires damor.
3. Molt fo feta gran oració e sollemnial a la sepultura de lamic, e vida damor preicà e loà molt lamic, e recomtà les dolors els trebayls que avia sostenguts com a bo e gran amador; e per les grans loors que lo preicador d amor deia de lamic, ploraren les dones els donzels d amor, e de la mort de lamic agren molt gran pietat e dolor,2 e car hi avien consentit e ajudat.
4. En . j. bel vas d amor, de glòria, e de veritat humilitat e pietat, posaren los donzels lo cors de lamic, e donaren los palis els ciris el lit als pobres qui demanen per amor almoyna pus fortment, que per necessitat de menjar e durmir.
5. Sobrel vas e la pera d amor escriviren los donzels damor aquest títol: «Aysí jau lamic, mort per son amat e per amor; amic qui ha amat son amat ab bona gran e durable amor; amic qui es estat forts combatedor per amor, e qui ha ahuda gran discreció e saviea en amar e onrar son amat; amic qui ha donada a lamat e amor tota sa volentat e vertut, e tot lo temps de sa vida; amic qui ha ahuda vera amor sens ypocresia e vana glòria; amic qui no ha feta differencia enfre los plaers e trebals que avia per amor, car tots li eren agradables; amic qui ha ahuda concordansa e solàs ab son amat per amor, e qui ha contrastat a falsa amor e a falses amadors; amic qui ha comensades moltes bones obres a onrar son amat e bona amor; amic qui en lo mig loc damor ha tengut tota hora son membrar entendre e amar per son amat e amor; amic qui tot so que fahia e deiha, fahia e dehia per rahó de la fi damor qui es son amat; amic qui tota ora ensercava major amor e fugia a menor; amic qui egalava son membrar entendre e amar en servir e honrar amor e son amat; amic humil pascient leyal ardit ensenyat larc sant e ple de tot be, qui ha inluminats molts amadors a honrar e servir son amat e sa amor.»
6. Can lo títol agren escrit los donzels damor, e agren dampnades les letres ab desirers suspirs e plors d amors, ab les rails damor, tots ensems, acompanyaren la dona damor tro a la casa on lamic morí per amor; la qual dona damor plorava e planyia lamic que molt amava e per qui era estada molt longament amada servida e onrada.
Notes
- 1 ↩Witness reads 'banyaren cl lavaren'; most plausible correction is 'banyaren e lavaren' ('bathed and washed').
- 2 ↩Standalone 'j.' is the medieval numeral .j. ('one'), here the indefinite article in restored 'ab .j. beli sàmit blanc' ('with a beautiful white samite').
- 3 ↩Standalone 'j.' is the medieval numeral .j. ('one') in restored 'posaren .j. altre sàmit vermel' ('they laid one other / another red samite').
- 4 ↩Standalone 'j.' is the medieval numeral .j. ('one') in restored 'posaren .j. altre sàmit daur' ('they laid one other / another golden samite').
- 5 ↩Medieval numeral j. = 1 (‘one’/‘a’), matching the same abbreviation pattern in the preceding section.
- 6 ↩Source 'rails damor' read as 'arrels d'amor' (roots of love), fitting the Tree allegory; liturgical 'responien' taken as answering/responding in the office.
- 7 ↩Normalized source has "dolor,2"; the trailing "2" is treated as an intrusive footnote marker, not narrative text.
- 8 ↩Medieval Catalan 'j.' here is the numeral for 'un' (one/a), almost certainly split from 'En .j. bel vas…'.
- 9 ↩'e de veritat humilitat e pietat' may mean 'and of truth, humility, and compassion' (as rendered) or, less likely without 'vera', 'and of true humility and compassion'.
- 10 ↩'palis' are funeral poles/staves; 'lit' is the funeral bed or bier later given away with the candles.
- 11 ↩Rendered Old Catalan «pera» as «stone» (pedra), the expected burial-epitaph sense with «vas» (vessel/urn); not «pear».
- 12 ↩Kept Llull’s triad as remembering, understanding, and loving (memory, intellect, and will/love), including where the friend keeps them equal in serving love and the beloved.
- 13 ↩«lo mig loc damor» rendered literally as «the middle place of love», a Llullian technical locus rather than a merely spatial midpoint.
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