I’m working on one of the most popular romantic French poems of its time, Roman de la rose or Romance of the rose. It’s amongst the most beautiful of European literary manuscripts from the 14th century. The National Library owns 7 copies of the manuscript (NLW MSS 5011-5017), and one of the most ornately illustrated copies is going live on the Digital Mirror in the next few days.
The first part of this poem written by Guillaume de Lorris between 1225 and 1230, is an allegorical dream vision. Lorris died before completing the poem, so a lengthy conclusion (17,700 lines) was written by Jean de Meun c.1280.
The poem is about courtly love and one man’s search for true love. It follows a 25 year old Lover’s quest for his maiden, who is depicted as a rosebud inside a walled garden. The Lover happens upon the garden, owned by Déduit (Old French for pleasure) as he strolls alongside a brook one Spring day.
In his efforts to approach the maiden he meets a number of allegorical characters including the winged God of Love who pierces him with an arrow of love. The Lover is now captivated by one particular rose and Venus begins tutoring in the art of courtship. He is helped through a thicket of thorns only encounter Danger, Jealousy, Shame and Fear. A long and exhausting battle follows in which the lover is aided by Honesty, Pity and Venus herself. Soon, their castle on fire, Danger and her friends flee. Finally, having overcome numerous obstacles the Lover reaches his love and happiness.
To find out more about the Lover’s journey ‘from misery to happiness’, keep your eyes open for Roman de la rose on the Digital Mirror soon.