The explanatory nature of these prose interludes induces Raynouard to class Rambaut’s poem with the ‘pièces avec commentaire’ (‘Choix,’ vol. ii. p. 248). To add a kind of commentary to poetic work was a not uncommon custom in the middle ages. Dante’s ‘Vita Nuova’ is a prominent case in point. In Provence, where a whole school of poets took pride in writing as incomprehensibly as might be, some such assistance to the weaker brethren became all the more indispensable. In most cases no doubt the joglar supplied the want by adding, after the recital of a poem, such explanatory notes as might seem most adapted to the intellectual level of his audience. Of Guillem (not Peter, as Raynouard calls him) de la Tor, the joglar, and friend of Sordello, we are told in the manuscripts that ‘he knew a great many canzos and was clever and sang well. He also was a poet; but when he wanted to recite his canzos he made his commentary longer than the poem itself.’ From the expression used by the biographer, _sermo de la razo_, we are led to conclude that Guillem’s long-winded explanations were couched in prose. This, however, was not always the case. We know of troubadours who good-naturedly took the trouble to elucidate the darknesses of brother bards by means of poetic glosses. Guiraut Riquier, the scholar and poet, here again shines by his example. The nature of these commentaries is well illustrated by a stanza of one of his poems which the reader will find translated in Raynouard’s ‘Choix’ (ii. 252). Guiraut de Calanson, in one of his poems, speaking of the palace of love, says that four steps, or degrees, lead up to it. Guiraut Riquier explains that these steps are ‘honour,’ ‘discretion,’ ‘gentle service,’ and ‘good sufferance,’ much to the edification, no doubt, of mediæval readers, and especially of Count Henri de Rodez, who, under his hand and seal, testifies to Guiraut’s explanation being trustworthy and to the point. The five portals of the palace and the mode of opening each individually, also find a circumstantial explanation at Guiraut’s hands.