Nor kiss I ask, nor sweet embraces, lest
I were blaspheming....
The most enthusiastic champions of pure love were Montanhagol, Sordello
and Guirot Riqiuer. The former maintained that a lover who asked for
favours incompatible with his lady's honour, neither loved her nor
deserved to be loved.--"Love begets purity, and he who knows the meaning
of love can never forsake virtue."
There is a controversy between Peire Guillem of Toulouse and Sordello,
which contains the following passages:
Of all mankind I never saw
A man like you, Sordell', I wis,
For he who woman does adore
Will never flout her love and kiss.
And what to others is a prize
You surely don't mean to despise?
Honour and joy I crave from her,
And if a little rose she bind
Into the wreath, Sir Guillem Peire,
From mercy, not from duty, mind,
That would be happiness indeed,
Oh! that such bliss should be my meed!
A humble lover such as you,
Sordell', in faith, I never knew.
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