Alba (poetry) - Citizendia

The alba ("sunrise") is a subgenre of Occitan lyric poetry. A genre (ˈʒɑːnrə also /ˈdʒɑːnrə/ from French "kind" or "sort" from Latin: genus (stem gener-) is a loose set Occitan ( IPA BrE: /ˈɒksɪtn/ AmE: /ˈɑksəˌtɑn/ known also as Lenga d'òc or Langue d'oc (native name occitan Lyric poetry refers to a usually short poem that expresses personal feelings which may or may not be set to music It describes the longing of lovers who, having passed a night together, must separate for fear of being discovered by their respective spouses.

A common figure found in the alba is the guaita ("sentry" or "guard"), a female friend who alerts the lovers when the hour has come to separate. The lovers often accuse the guaita of dozing, being inattentive or separating them too early. The lovers fear not just the lady's husband but also the lauzengiers, the jealous rival.

The following example, composed by an anonymous troubadour, describes the longing of a knight for his lady as they part company after a night of forbidden love. A troubadour ( IPA:, originally) was a composer and performer of Occitan Lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100&ndash1350 Though generally representative of the style, this particular verse uses an atypical strophic pattern. Strophe ( Greek στροφή, turn bend twist, see also Phrase) is a concept in versification which properly

Quan lo rosinhols escria

ab sa part la nueg e. l dia,

yeu suy ab ma bell'amia

jos la flor,

tro la gaita de la tor

escria: "Drutz, al levar!

Qu'ieu vey l'alba e. l jorn clar.

While the nightingale sings,

both night and day,

I am with my beautiful

beneath the flowers,

until our sentry from the tower

cries: "Lovers, get up!

for I clearly see the sunrise and the day.

Under the influence of the Occitan troubadours, the Minnesingers developed a similar genre, the Tagelied, in Germany, and in northern France the trouvères developed an equivalent aube genre. Minnesang was the tradition of lyric and Song writing in Germany which flourished in the 12th century and continued into the 14th century The Tagelied ( dawn song) is a particular form of Mediaeval German language lyric, taken and adapted from the Provençal Troubadour Trouvère ( MWCD: /trü'ver trü'vər/ sometimes spelled trouveur, is the Northern French ( Langue d'oïl) form of the word Troubadour An aubade is a Poem or Song of or about lovers separating at dawn The alba itself was imported into the Galician-Portuguese trovadorismo movement, but only one example of it, by Nuno Fernandes Torneol, survives. Galician-Portuguese (also known as galego-português or galaico-português in Portuguese and as galego-portugués or galaico-portugués In the High Middle Ages, a lyric poetic phenomenon arose called trovadorismo in Portugal and trobadorismo in Galicia

List of Occitan albas

Composer	Incipit	Type	Notes
Bernart de Venzac	Lo Paire el Filh el sant Espirital	religious
Raimbaut de Vaqueiras	Gaita be gaiteta del castel	profane
Guiraut de Bornelh	Reis glorios, verais lums e clartatz	profane
Folquet de Marselha	Vers Dieus el vostre nom e de Sainta Maria	religious
Cadenet	En sui tan cortesa gaita	profane
Raimon de las Salas	Deus aidatz	profane
Bertran d'Alamanon or Gaucelm Faidit	Us cavalier si jazia	profane
Guilhem d'Autpol	Esperansa de totz ferms esperans	religious
Guiraut Riquier	Ab plazer	profane
Guiraut Riquier	Qui vuelha ses plazer	religious
Uc de la Bacalaria	Per grazir la bon'estrena	profane
Peire Espanhol	Ar levatz sus, franca cortesa gen	religious
Berenguer d'Anoia	Gaita, be gardatz	religious
Anonymous	En un vergier, sotz folha d'albespi	profane
Anonymous	Ab la gensor que sia	profane
Anonymous	Quan lo rossinhol escria	profane	cobla esparsa
Anonymous	Dreitz que vol dreitamen amar	profane	cobla esparsa

The incipit of a text such as a Poem, Song, or Book, is its first few words or opening line Bernart de Venzac (fl 1180&ndash1210 was an obscure Troubadour from Venzac near Rodez in the Rouergue. Raimbaut de Vaqueiras or Riambaut de Vaqueyras (floruit 1180-1207 was a Provençal Troubadour and later in his life knight Giraut de Bornelh (c 1138 &ndash 1215 whose first name is also spelled Guiraut and whose nickname Borneil ( l) or Borneyll, was a Troubadour Folquet de Marselha, alternatively Folquet de Marseille, Foulques de Toulouse, Fulk of Toulouse (c Cadenet (c 1160 &ndash c 1235 was a Provençal Troubadour ( trobador) who lived and wrote at the court of Raymond VI of Toulouse and eventually Raimon de ( las) Salas or la Sala was a Provençal Troubadour probably of the 1220s/1230s Bertran d'Alamanon or de Lamanon (fl 1229&ndash1266 was a Provençal Knight and Troubadour, and an official diplomat and ambassador of the Gaucelm Faidit (c 1170 &ndash c 1202 was a Troubadour, born in Uzerche, in the Limousin, from a family of knights in service of the count of Guilhem d'Autpol or Daspol (fl 1265&ndash1270 was a Troubadour from Hautpoul in the Languedoc. Guiraut Riquier (c1230 - 1292 is among the last of the Provençal Troubadours He is well known because of his great care in writing out his works and keeping them together Uc de la Bacalaria was a Limousin Troubadour from near Uzerche, the home town of Gaucelm Faidit. Peire Espanhol (c 1150&ndashc 1220 was a Limousin Troubadour with three extant cansos, including one religious alba Berenguer d'Anoia or de Noya (fl c 1300 was a Catalan Troubadour from Majorca. A cobla is a Stanza in Occitan Lyric poetry, the artform of the Troubadours. A cobla is a Stanza in Occitan Lyric poetry, the artform of the Troubadours.

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