Canso
Toulouse
Ab l'alen tir vas me l'aire
Peire Vidal · c. 1150–1210
Ab l'alen tir vas me l'aire
qu'eu sen venir de Proensa;
tot quant es de lai m'agensa,
si que, quan n'aug ben retraire,
With each breath I draw toward me the air
that I feel coming from Provence;
all that is from there delights me,
so that, when I hear good things told of it,
Vidal was legendary for his eccentricities — he once dressed in wolfskin to court a lady named Loba (She-Wolf) and was mauled by shepherd dogs. His verse, though, breathes pure longing for home.