favoured by him, and wrote a fine poem on his death.11 Crescem

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1757
favoured by him, and wrote a fine poem on his death.11 Crescembeni's translation of Notredame, Art. 41 and 14,12 who gives you the
second stanza of one of Richard I's serventesis,1* as follows
Or sachan ben mos horns e mos Barons,
Anglez, Normans, Peytavins, e Gascons;
Qu' yeu non ay ia si pavre compagnon
Q u e per aver lou laussess' en preson.^
Or as he translates it:
Or saccian ben miei uomini, miei Baroni
Normanni, Inglesi, del Poetu, e Guasconi,
Ch'io gia non ho si povero compagno,
Che per aver, lo lassassi in prigione.
He says, there are some of his serventesi in both the above-mentioned libraries; and mentions in particular, Cod. 3204, in the Vatican: js but I suppose the taste of it above will be as m u c h as you m a y
possibly desire, of this lion-hearted poet's works. I long to see your
ten royal, and other noble writers;16 and m a y the press at Strawberry
Hill everflourishand abound, is the prayer of,
Sir,
Your most obedient humble servant,
Jo. SPENCE
Tassoni17 in his Consid. p. 489, and Redi18 in his Annotaz. p. 98,
mention this King as a poet; and quote from him: and will you
11. 'Fortz chausa es que tot lo major
dan.' T h e text of this, the most famous
of Gaucelm's poems, is given in Jean
Mouzat, Les poemes de Gaucelm Faidit,
1965, pp. 415-18.
12. Crescimbeni, op. cit. ii. 95-6, 43-5.
13. Serventese, 'a form of poem or lay,
usually satirical, employed by the troubadours of the Middle Ages' (OED sub
'sirvente').
14. 'Now well know, m y m e n and m y
barons,
English, Normans, Poiterins, and Gascons,
That I have not indeed a companion
so poor
That to have [gold] I would leave him
in prison.'
15. There is no poem by Richard I in
this manuscript, but two poems by
Rigaut de Barbezieux (or Richart de
Berbezil or Berbesin) and Richard de
Tarascon ( M A N N V. 169 and nn. 4-6).
16. H W does not acknowledge the help
he received from Spence in his article on
Richard I in his Royal and Noble Authors (Works i. 251-5).
17. Alessandro Tassoni (1565-1635), author of Considerazioni sopra le rime del
Petrarca, Modena, 1609.
18. Francesco Redi (1626-98), author of
Bacco in Toscana, Florence, 1685, which
includes Annotazioni di Francesco Redi
Aretino accademico della crusca al ditirambo.