religious feelings,
regrets for past follies and resolutions of repentance, which found
expression in poetry. Peire d'Auvergne wrote several religious hymns
after his retirement from the world; these are largely composed of
reiterated articles of the Christian faith in metrical form and are as
unpoetical as they are orthodox, Crusade poems and _planhs_ upon the [91]
deaths of famous nobles or patrons are religious only in a secondary
sense. A fine religious _alba_ is ascribed to Folquet of Marseilles--

Vers Dieus, e.l vostre nom e de sancta Maria
m'esvelherai hueimais, pus l'estela del dia
ven daus Jerusalem que' m'ensenha qu'ien dia:
estatz sus e levatz,
senhor, que Dieu amatz!
que.l jorns es aprosmatz
e la nuech ten sa via;
e sia.n Dieus lauzatz
per nos e adoratz,
e.l preguem que.ens don patz
a tota nostra via.
La nuech vai e.l jorns ve
ab elar eel e sere,
e l'alba no's rete
ans ven belh' e complia.

"True God, in Thy name and in the name of Saint Mary will I awake
henceforth, since the star of day rises from o'er Jerusalem, bidding me
say, 'Up and arise, sirs, who love God! For the day is nigh, and the
night departs; and let God be praised and adored by us and let us pray
Him that He give us peace for all our lives. Night goes and day comes
with clear serene sky, and the dawn delays not but comes fair and
perfect.'"

At the close of the Albigeois crusade the Virgin Mary becomes the theme
of an increasing number of lyric poems. These are not like the farewells [92]
to the world, uttered by weary troubadours, and dictated by individual
circumstances, but are inspired by an increase of religious feeling in
the public to whom the troubadours appealed. Peire Cardenal began the
series and a similar poem is attributed to Perdigon, a troubadour who
joined the crusaders and fought against his old patrons; though the poem
is probably not his, it belongs to a time but little posterior to the
crusade. The cult of the Virgin had obvious attractions as a subject for
troubadours whose profane songs would not have been countenanced by St
Dominic and his preachers and religious poetry dealing with the subject
could easily borrow not only the metrical forms but also many technical
expressions which troubadours had used in singing of worldly love. They
could be the servants of a heavenly mistre