Le roman de la rose

For when Guillaume shall cease,
Jean shall then recommence it
More than forty years after his passing.

This is not only a
Romance of Love, it is also satirical,
it is moral, and it is almost
even a Romance of Chivalry. But the military exploits,
which only enter as
incidents, are not frequent enough
to give it this title: And it is quite
enough to contain love,
satire, and morality.

Examination of this Romance as a
Romance of Love.

The project that the Lover formed
to enjoy the rose or the vermilion bud,
which is the principle and the goal of
his searches, makes him listen to and follow
all the advice of the God of Love,
all the consolations given to him by
his friend, and the means that an old
experience makes her suggest. He seeks
to surmount the obstacles and the perils
that love, to test the constancy
of lovers, usually sows
in their path. Neither the wise advice

of Reason, nor the murmurs
of Jealousy, nor the rebuffs of all
the enemies that destiny wants to oppose
to his desires—nothing can prevent him
from following his project. The more he sees
difficulties, the more ardor he shows;
even the pains that his mistress
feels for having shown herself too
sensitive do not serve him only
as torments; it is also a pressing
motive that makes him implore all
the forces of the God of Love, to draw
her from servitude, and to deliver
themselves mutually to each other. One
could only admire so many laudable
efforts, if it had been a question of that
love of delicacy, which makes the accord
of spirits and the union of hearts: and
which would make the most reserved person feel.
But nothing less than that: hardly
has he reached the goal of his desires,
than he abandons this mistress for
whom he has done so much, and who has
done so much for him. He remembers
in truth the pleasures he tasted with
her, he even sometimes agreeably
refreshes the memory of them; but he
is ignorant of what her situation is since
he was willing to abandon her to herself,
and I dare say to her bad
fate.