ARNAUT DANIEL

(Arnaud)

(ca. 1150–ca. 1200)

Arnaut Daniel was one of the most esteemed of the TROUBADOUR poets, admired particularly for his technical skill and virtuosity.His verses are written in theTROBAR RICstyle, which involved intricate rhyme schemes, elaborate ornamentation, and the use of rare words selected mainly for their sound. Arnaut was even known to create words if they fit his purposes. HisVIDAtells us that his songs were difficult to learn and to comprehend.

Arnaut’sVidaalso says that he was born in Ribérac on the Dordogne river in the bishopric of Périgueux in the Aquitaine. Apparently he was of the noble class. Arnaut’s fellow troubadours BERTRAN DE BORN and GIRAUT DE BORNELH came from this same general area, and it is likely that Arnaut was well acquainted with them. Like many troubadours, Arnaut traveled between many courts.He claims to have been present at the coronation of the French king Philippe-Auguste in 1180, and it has been suggested that he was at one time in the entourage of RICHARD I Lionheart. While Arnaut wrote some rather bawdy verse, most of his poetry exalts the notion of true love. For Arnaut, love and art are one: Love inspires and directs his song, and it also spurs him toward moral perfection. As Linda Paterson puts it, for Arnaut “the joy of love, moral worth, and artistic perfection were bound together” (Paterson 1975, 189). Arnaut’s reputation, though, rests mainly on his skill as a technician of verse.While some earlier troubadours debated the merits of different styles, Arnaut generally speaks of polishing and embellishing his verse, which he refers to in one song astrobar prim, designating a highly polished style.He is generally credited with inventing the verse form called the sestina, a poem of six six-line stanzas and a concluding three-line stanza called acongedo. The same six rhyme words are repeated in each six-line stanza, in an order determined by their placement in the first stanza.The rhyme word of the first line of each stanza begins with the rhyme word from the last line of the previous stanza, and the other rhyme words all move down a line in order. All six words are used in thecongedo, with half the words used as internal rhymes. Another of Arnaut’s songs, “L’aur’amara” (“The Rough Wind”), is lauded by DANTE as one of the best examples of a love poem in the vernacular. In the poem where each long stanza repeats the same rhymesabcdefgbhhicjklcm, nearly a third of all the syllables in the poem are part of the rhyme scheme, and the words of the poem are otherwise held together by alliteration and assonance. It is a remarkable technical achievement.

Arnaut was highly admired by PETRARCH, and even more highly by Dante, who considered Arnaut the greatest of the troubadours. He mentions Arnaut several times inDe VULGARI VLOQUENTIA, and introduces him as well in the 26th canto of thePurgatorio. In that canto, Dante has the great Italian poet Guido GUINIZELLI refer to Arnaut asmiglior fabbro del parlar materno, that is, the “better craftsman in the mother tongue.” The use of the term “craftsman” suggests that Dante admired Arnaut particularly for his technical virtuosity.When Dante has Arnaut speak for himself, it is in his native Occitan language.Arnaut is the only character in the DIVINE COMEDY allowed to speak in any language other than Italian—a sign of Dante’s respect for Arnaut as the ideal vernacular poet. In the 20th century,Arnaut was also admired by Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot, and when Eliot dedicated hisWaste Landto Pound, he used Dante’s tribute to Arnaut to do so, calling himil miglior fabbro: “the better craftsman.”

■ Arnaut Daniel.The Poetry of Arnaut Daniel. Edited and translated by James J. Wilhelm. New York: Garland Press, 1981.

■ Goldin, Frederick, ed. and trans.Lyrics of the Troubadours and Trouvères: An Anthology and a History. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1973.

■ Paterson, Linda M.Troubadours and Eloquence. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975.