Envoi
As Envoi (in French. "The (Ab) program") in German as "escort" or "program", the short final and dedication verse is a medieval Provencal or old French song , first as part of the songs of the troubadours and Trouvères in the French poetry of the late Middle Ages as part of the Chant royal and the again blossoming ballad , in which this verse from the Chant royal was taken over.
The envoy usually starts with an apostrophe to the person to whom the song is dedicated and explanatory or commentary remarks such as a moral principle. The recipient of the ballad is usually called the Prince . He is the elected chairman of a puy , a semi-religious, semi-literary cultural society of the Middle Ages, which often held poetry competitions for the coronation of a prince . The Old and Middle French word puy is derived from the late Latin podium .
The famous ballad La Ballade des Dames du temps jadis by the French poet François Villon ends with the following Envoi.
- Prince, n'enquerrez de semaine
- Où elles sont, ni de cet an,
- Que ce refrain ne vous remaine:
- Mais où sont les neiges d'antan?
The author speaks both the Prince at first in the verse, and he expresses a commenting remark, in which the Prince is asked ironically, to not worry about where the sung in the first three stanzas Dames du temps jadis have remained .