Alba (poetry)

The "alba" ("sunrise") is a subgenre of Occitan lyric poetry. It describes the longing of lovers who, having passed a night together, must separate for fear of being discovered by their respective spouses.

A common figure found in the "alba" is the "guaita" ("sentry" or "guard"), a female friend who alerts the lovers when the hour has come to separate. The lovers often accuse the "guaita" of dozing, being inattentive or separating them too early. The lovers fear not just the lady's husband but also the "lauzengiers", the jealous rival.

The following example, composed by an anonymous troubadour, describes the longing of a knight for his lady as they part company after a night of forbidden love. Though generally representative of the style, this particular verse uses an atypical strophic pattern.

Under the influence of the Occitan troubadours, the Minnesingers developed a similar genre, the Tagelied, in Germany, and in northern France the trouvères developed an equivalent "aube" genre. The "alba" itself was imported into the Galician-Portuguese "trovadorismo" movement, but only one example of it, by Nuno Fernandes Torneol, survives.

List of Occitan "albas"