James II of Aragon - Writing

Writing

It was probably during his reign at Sicily (1285–1291) that James composed his only surviving piece of Occitan poetry, a religious dansa dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Mayre de Deu. A contemporary, Arnau de Vilanova, wrote a verse-by-verse Latin commentary of the dansa in 1305. The metaphor James uses has been analysed by Alfred Jeanroy, who sees similarities in the Roman de Fauvel.

James begins by comparing the Church to a ship in a storm, poorly guided by its pilot (nauchier, i.e. the Pope):

Mayre de Deu e fylha,
verge humil e vera,
vostra nau vos apela
que l'aydetz, quar perylha.
Mother of God and daughter,
virgin humble and true,
your ship appeals to you
that you help it, because it is imperiled.

The literary quality of the verses is neither astounding nor disappointing, but the song was clearly written at a moment when James was in conflict with the Papacy, perhaps with a propagandistic end, to prove his piety and fidelity to the Church if not the Papacy. The final verses ask Mary to protect him, the king, from sin:

Mayre, tu.m dona forsa
contra ma leugeria,
e.m garda de la via
de peccat, que.ns exylha.
Mother, grant me power
against my weakness,
and guard me from the way
of sin, that destroys.

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