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JORDI DE SANT JORDI (1395?-1424)

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WITHOUT FRIENDS (Translation by Angela Buxton)

Without friends, goods and master,

in a strange place and in a strange region,

far from everything good, tired of worry and sadness,

my will and thought captivated,

I find myself completely subject to an evil power;

I see no one who will take care of me,

and I am guarded, caught, shackled and imprisoned,

for which I blame my sad fortune.

I saw times when nothing satisfied me;

now I am content with what makes me sad,

and now I appreciate more the light shackles

than before I did the most beautiful embroidery.

I see that fortune has shown its power

over me, wanting me to reach this point;

but I don't care, for I have done my duty

to all good people in whose company I am.

It is nothing for me to suffer all these wrongs

compared to the one which breaks my heart,

and every day it makes me crack with hope:

I see nothing that can give us a push

in preparing our liberation.

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