Chevrefoil - Marie de France

This lai reminded me of a Romeo and Juliet story. It also brought to my attention that the love during this time was so strong between two lovers. People would go so out of their way to make sure that they could and would see their lovers. The things that these people would do to have their lover is beautiful and meaningful. Like in this lai, when he cuts a hazel to get the Queen's attention.

"He cut a hazel in half there, shaped and trimmed it, neatly square. When he had prepared this staff, he autographed it with his knife. If the Queen saw this invention, she would pay it great attention; for this had all happened before -- she'd realized thus that he was there. She'll recognize it easy, quick, as soon as she sees her lover's stick."

He makes sure to autograph the hazel and have it stand out so that his lover will recognize it. His goal is to have her find it and know that he was there at some point. Lucky enough, she see's it and knows it is her lover who has left it there.

"The queen riding through the wood. She looked around, as far as she could; she saw the staff, paid heed to it, and, by the letters on it, knew it."

And because of this, she wanders off into the woods to find her lover. They sat and talked and never wanted to leave each other. But unfortunately, he was summoned for by his uncle.

This lai really reminded me of the last lai we read, Chaitivel. They both ended by saying that this lai was about another lai. As we talked about in class, I believe Marie de France is connecting this to art. At the end of the lai in the footnotes, it talks about Tristram's artistic abilities, particularly as a musician. Marie de France, I believe, is writing this lai, song, about the beautiful music that Tristram plays/writes. The ending was unclear to me, just like Chaitivel.