Classic Poem

I have plenty of song masters
And song mistresses around me:
Meadows and orchards, trees and flowers,
Birds songs and lays and cries
For the sweet, gentle season,
And so I settle with a little enjoyment,
Such that no diversion can gladden me
As does the company of worthy love.

Let the shepherds have their pipes,
And the children their little games,
And let such loves be mine
In which I may enjoy and be enjoyed;
For I know her to be wholly good
To her lover in a forbidding place:
Because of this I feel too often afflicted,
For I do not have what my heart hopes for.

Far are the castle and the tower
Where she and her husband lie;
And if I am not furthered
By good counselors' advice —
For any other counsel is worth little to me,
So true is my heartfelt desire —
Then there's nothing left but to die,
If I do not have some enjoyment soon.

I call lords all those near
The land where this joy was raised,
And it must, I think, be a great honor for me,
For I believe that the most vile
Are courtly and loyal;
I have a good affection for and opinion of
The love which I hold in my heart,
And I know that she is well aware of it.

My heart is so much there with her
That its summit and root are nowhere else,
And while I sleep under covers
My spirit is there with her;
And [yet] her love undoes me,
For I love her so much and it does not matter to her;
Soon I shall see if by enduring
I can hope for my enjoyment.

My will goes quickly
At night and in daylight
Into that place, for desire of relief,
But she comes to me late and says to me:
" Love, " she says, " jealous boors
Have started a dispute
That will be hard to settle
To the point where we can enjoy ourselves together. "

And so my pain grows even greater,
For I hear her in convenient places;
But I do not sigh and weep so much
That one single little kiss
Would not keep me safe and sound;
Love is good and has great value,
And can cure me of this ailment
Without the help of a learned doctor.