Le Roman de Vrai Amour and Le Pleur de Sainte Ame

A manuscript copy of “Le Roman de vrai amour,” a poem that had been mentioned in scholarly literature but thought to be lost, was discovered in Cornell University Library’s archives in 1938. This copy, made in Friburg, Sweden in the early fifteenth century, contains a second poem, “Le Pleur de sainte âme,” originally thought to be a continuation of “Le Roman de vrai amour.” Though both poems address the love of God, scholars determined that differences in language, style, and approach to content marked them as works of different authors. The text of both poems is included in this volume, along with introductory material on language, subject matter, what is known of their authorship and origins, and a table of rhyme schemes.