by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
Olim lacus colueram
Language: Latin
Olim lacus colueram olim pulcher extiteram, dum cignus ego fueram. Miser, miser! modo niger et ustus fortiter! Girat, regirat furcifer, propinat me nunc dapifer, me rogus urit fortiter! Miser, miser! modo niger et ustus fortiter! Mallem in acquis vivere nudo semper sub aere, quam in hoc mergi pipere: Miser, miser! modo niger et ustus fortiter! Eram nive candidior, quavis ave formosior, modo sum corvo nigrior: Miser, miser! modo niger et ustus fortiter! Nunc in scutella iaceo, et volitare nequeo, dentes frendentes video. Miser, miser! modo niger et ustus fortiter!
C. Orff sets stanzas 1-4, 9-10
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesConfirmed with Carmina Burana: lateinische und deutsche Lieder und Gedichte. Einer Handschrift des XIII. Jahrhunderts Aus Benediktbeuern auf der K. Bibliothek zu München herausgegeben von J[ohann] A[ndreas] Schmeller, dritte unveränderte Auflage, Breslau: Wilhelm Koebner, 1894. page 173
Text Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author, no title, appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae, first published c1300 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Carl Orff (1895 - 1982), "Olim lacus colueram", 1935-6, stanzas 1-4,9-10 [ tenor and men's chorus ], from Carmina Burana, no. 12 [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Ludwig Laistner (1845 - 1896) , "Ein Schwanenlied", appears in Golias. Studentenlieder des Mittelalters, aus dem lateinischen von Ludwig Laistner, Stuttgart: W. Spemann, first published 1879 ; composed by Max Zenger.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Saúl Botero Restrepo) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani , Melanie Trumbull
This text was added to the website: 2011-04-24
Line count: 30
Word count: 90