You are mîn, I am dîn
Dû bist mîn, I am dîn is the first of six related verses that can be found in the Tegernsee collection of letters (Codex latinus Monacencis 19411) fol. 114 v can be found at the end of a love letter. They were written by an anonymous writer towards the end of the 12th century. The text is one of the best-known examples of German literature of the Middle Ages and is considered the oldest Middle High German love song. It is generally considered a poem, but this view is controversial in German studies .
background
The author of the closing lines, written around 1180, is unknown. The text can be found in a sample letter collection at the end of a Latin love letter from a lady or nun, the contents of which summarize the six verses in compact form. The correspondence between nun and monk stored in the codex is recorded by one hand, which is why the authenticity of the text is often questioned. Possibly the letters are the sole fiction of a monk. On the other hand, it could also be a quotation from a folk song, such as a Winileod .
text
|
Original in a scientific edition
You are mîn, I am dîn. |
New High German translation (after Thomas Bein)
You are mine I am yours. |
shape
The verses of the poem are still without paragraphs in the handwriting and are separated by rhyming points. The poem was often viewed as a stanza made up of three identical pairs of rhymes, the cadence structure of which is as follows: v: v | kl: kl | v: v. A tunnel is usually denied. Jürgen Kühnel , on the other hand, interprets the text as six lines of prose of different lengths, which simply have a five-fold în-rhyme; the fourth line has no rhyme. It is therefore a matter of rhyming prose, which is still not to be regarded as an independent poem.
interpretation
Mirror image in the first verse
The first verse symbolizes the reciprocal relationship and the equality of both persons through the mirror image-like syntax. This formula is documented in various texts of medieval literature. It also enjoyed widespread popularity as an engagement formula. In the literature, reference is often made to the Song of Songs, where it says in 2.16 LUT and 6.3 LUT : "My friend is mine and I am his who grazes under the lotus flowers."
Container metaphor
The traditional metaphor of love as an enclosure in the heart is continued in the verses: The heart can be interpreted as a container, for example a treasure chest, in which the person addressed will outlast the transience of the body , or as a house that, through the loss of the Key becomes a prison, so to speak. The “loss” seems as if it was supposedly not intended by the lyrical self. If this is interpreted as a rhetorical trick, the ego appears as a kind of ruler over freedom . Such depictions of power games within a relationship are typical of the love poetry of the time. The motif of the woman as a seductive personality, who captivates the man with “the minnen cord”, represents a recourse to ancient motifs and is also found as a topos in the following epochs.
Assignment to minnesang
Belonging to minstrel is often denied. Thus, through the expression of security, a thematic contrast can be found to the mostly prevailing representation of tense, barely fulfilling relationships. The verses are also not found in any medieval song manuscript. Meinolf Schumacher states: "It is paradoxical: the most popular text of German minnesong, at least among non-Medievalists, should not belong to it!"
On the other hand, there are at least elements that later become typical of minstrelsong, including the dualism of man and woman, between which there is an emotional relationship that is also desirable as such. The assurance of inner sincerity is also a common feature, as is the representation of power games (see section "Container metaphor").
reception
The final part of the letter was communicated by Bernhard Joseph Docen to Georg Friedrich Benecke and Karl Lachmann , who initially reproduced it in their Iwein comment. Lachmann later decided to add the stanza to the collection " Des Minnesang's Spring ", although his co-editor Moriz Haupt had already questioned its independence as a poem. In the following, it was mainly perceived as an independent poem in Germanic research, while the history of transmission sometimes took a back seat. It was mostly seen as an example of popular love poetry and the nun's authorship was occasionally seen as authentic. The question of whether it is a poem or rhyming prose has been viewed as problematic, especially since Jürgen Kühnel's essay.
Today, the text is one of the best-known documents of the Middle Ages, Kühnel even calls it “undoubtedly the most popular Middle High German text”. It is also often referred to as the "oldest love poem in the German language" and was distributed in countless variants, including a. by imprinting on everyday objects.
literature
- Jürgen Kühnel: You are mîn, ih am dîn. The Latin love (and friendship) letters of the clm 19411. Illustrations, text and translation (= Litterae . Volume 52 ). Kümmerle, Göppingen 1977, ISBN 978-3-87452-380-6 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Cyril Edwards: winileodos? On nuns, censorship and the traces of Old High German love poetry . In: Wolfgang Haubrichs, Heinrich Beck (Ed.): Theodisca. Contributions to the Old High German and Old Low German language and literature in the culture of the early Middle Ages. An international symposium in Schönbühl near Penzberg from March 13 to 16, 1997 (= Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde - supplementary volumes . Volume 22 ). De Gruyter, 2000, ISBN 978-3-11-080647-2 , p. 195 f ., doi : 10.1515 / 9783110806472.189 .
- ↑ a b c Kühnel, p. 27 ff.
- ↑ a b c d Katrin Kohl: Poetologische Metaphern. Forms and functions in German literature . De Gruyter, 2007, ISBN 978-3-11-018628-4 , p. 335 f .
- ↑ a b c d e Meinolf Schumacher: Introduction to the German literature of the Middle Ages . WGB, Darmstadt 2010, ISBN 978-3-534-19603-6 , p. 122 f .
- ↑ The Spring of Minstrels. Part: 1st, texts . 38th edition. Hirzel, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 978-3-7776-0448-0 , pp. 21 .
- ↑ a b c Thomas Bein: German-language poetry of the Middle Ages. From the beginning to the 14th century. An introduction (= basics of German studies . Volume 62 ). Erich Schmidt Verlag, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-503-17167-5 , pp. 84 ff .
- ↑ Kühnel, p. 31 f.