Author Bio: The main biography of Rudel was taken in part by this poem and his other works. His songs and poems focus on the same type of lament, feeling a longing love for someone he cannot have. The theme of unrequited love was is his main sorrow. In fact, in To His Love Afar, the woman he desires so deeply is the Countess of Tripoli, a woman he has never even seen before. It is believed that he heard of her through praise of returning from Antioch. She is the main subject of all of his work, and in a last-ditch effort to meet her, he joined the Crusades just to get to the Holy Land. On the journey, he fell incredibly ill, and was not believed to make it. Soon after, he made it to Tripoli, and the Countess, who heard of this journey, ran to him. He finally thanked God for fulfilling his wish and died in her arms. He was buried in the Temple, and the grief pushed the Countess to become a nun.
Date/Context: Jaufre Rudel lived during the mid-12th century, and fought in the 2nd Crusade.
Summary: This piece, full of sorrow and lament, brings together the time period's focus on God and religion and society's way of worshipping women. The high middle ages at the time saw women as respected individuals who deserved love and adoration. The main idea of this poem is the speaker has fallen in love with a woman who will be forever separated from him. He believes that she will be the only love he ever has, and feels as if God has cursed him with such a poor fate. He prays for a chance to see her but knows that his curse has been his since birth, and will follow him until death.
Key Quotation: It will not be, for at birth they said / That one had set this doom upon my head, -God curse him among men!- / That I should love, and not till I be dead / Be loved again.
Good job. This document expounds upon "romantic" love - a chivalric ideal that continues to influence western perceptions of relationships.
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