FORTUNA IMPERATRIX MUNDI 

O Fortuna,
velut luna
statu variabilis, 
semper crescis
aut decrescis;
vita detestabilis
nunc obdurat
et tunc curat
ludo mentis aciem;
egestatem,
potestatem
dissolvit ut glaciem.

Sors immanis
et inanis,
rota tu volubilis,
status malus,
vana salus
semper dissolubilis,
obumbrata
et velata
mihi quoque niteris;
nunc per ludum
dorsum nudum
fero tui sceleris.

Sors salutis
et virtutis
mihi nunc contraria,
est affectus
et defectus
semper in angaria.
Hac in hora
sine mora
corde pulsum tangite;
quod per sortem
sternit fortem,
mecum omnes plangite!

  FORTUNE,  EMPRESS OF THE WORLD

O Fortune,
just like the moon 
you are changeable,
always waxing
or waning;
hateful life
now dulls 
and then heals
the mind's sharpness for its sport;
poverty
and power
it melts like ice.

Fate, monstrous 
and futile,
you are a turning wheel,
an evil state,
a vain refuge 
always bound to melt away,
shadowed
and veiled,
you also press upon me;
now my back
is laid bare
through the play of your wickedness.

A fate of safety 
and virtue 
is denied to me, 
whether excited 
or exhausted 
one is always in bondage.
At this hour
without delay
pluck the throbbing string;
because by fate
the strong are laid low,
all of you, lament with me!

Text Authorship:

• Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
  
  

Based on:

• a text in Latin by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae, first published c1300
  • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-11
Line count: 37
Word count: 121

Fortune plango vulnera
stillantibus ocellis,
quod sua mihi munera
subtrahit rebellis.
Verum est, quod legitur:
fronte capillata,
sed plerumque sequitur
occasio calvata.

In Fortune solio
sederam elatus,
prosperitatis vario
flore coronatus;
quicquid tamen florui
felix et beatus,
nunc a summo corrui
gloria privatus.

Fortune rota volvitur:
descendo minoratus;
alter in altum tollitur;
nimis exaltatus
rex sedet in vertice -
caveat ruinam!
Nam sub axe legimus:
Hecubam reginam.

I lament the wounds of Fortune
with weeping eyes,
because she rebelliously 
deprives me of her gifts.
What we read is true:
though there is hair on his brow,
most often Opportunity 
has a bald head behind.

On Fortune's throne 
high up I had sat,
crowned with prosperity's
variegated flowers;
however much I flourished,
happy and blessed,
I have now fallen from the summit,
deprived of glory.

The wheel of Fortune turns:
I descend, diminished;
another is raised up;
exalted too far,
a king sits at the very top —
let him beware of falling!
For beneath the axle we read:
Queen Hecuba.

Text Authorship:

• Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
  
  

Based on:

• a text in Latin by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae, first published c1300
  • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

Note for stanza 1, lines 6-8: Opportunity (Kairos to the ancient Greeks) was depicted as bald except for a lock of hair on his forehead. As Opportunity approached, the forelock could be used to seize him; but once he had passed, there was no way to grab him from behind.
Note for stanza 3, line 8: Hecuba, wife of King Priam and mother of Hector, lost everything when Troy fell. She was often invoked to illustrate the fickleness of fate.

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-13
Line count: 24
Word count: 104

I. PRIMO VERE
Veris leta facies
mundo propinatur,
hiemalis acies
victa iam fugatur,
in vestitu vario
Flora principatur,
nemorum dulcisonoque
cantu celebratur. Ah!

Flore fusus gremio
Phebus novo more
risum dat, hoc vario
iam stipate flore.
Zephyrus nectareo
spirans in odore,
certatim pro bravio
curramus in amore. Ah!

Cytharizat cantico
dulcis philomena,
flore rident vario
prata iam serena,
salit cetus avium
silve per amena,
chorus promit virginum
iam gaudia millena. Ah!

I. IN EARLY SPRING 
The joyful face of Spring
is presented to the world,
Winter's regiment,
defeated, is now put to flight,
in variegated dress
Flora reigns,
and by the sweet-sounding song
of the woods she is glorified. Ah!

Stretched out in Flora's lap
Phoebus in a new manner 
laughs, as this riot 
of flowers now surrounds her.
Zephyrus breathes
with a nectar-sweet scent;
competing for the prize,
let us race for love. Ah!

Sweet Philomena 
sings to the lyre, 
now with a riot of flowers
the cheerful meadows laugh, 
a flock of birds darts 
through the pleasant forest spaces,
a chorus of virgins now brings forth 
joy a thousand fold. Ah!

Text Authorship:

• Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
  
  

Based on:

• a text in Latin by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae, first published c1300
  • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

Translator's note: this poem refers to four figures from ancient Roman mythology: Flora, the goddess of flowers; Phoebus, an epithet of the god Apollo, who was associated with the sun; Zephyrus, a god representing the gentle westerly breeze of Spring; and Philomena (alternatively Philomela), an Athenian princess who was transformed by the gods into a nightingale.

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-15
Line count: 25
Word count: 112

Omnia sol temperat
purus et subtilis,
novo mundo reserat
facies Aprilis;
ad amorem properat
animus herilis
et iocundis imperat
deus puerilis.

Rerum tanta novitas
in solemni vere
et veris auctoritas
iubet nos gaudere;
vias prebet solitas,
et in tuo vere
fides est et probitas
tuum retinere.

Ama me fideliter !
Fidem meam nota:
de corde totaliter
et ex mente tota
sum presentialiter
absens in remota.
Quisquis amat taliter,
volvitur in rota.

The sun tempers all things,
pure and gentle,
it unveils to the new world
the face of April;
a young man's spirit 
makes haste towards love
and the amicable are ruled 
by the boy god.

Such renewal of the world 
in festive Spring
and the influence of Spring 
bids us to rejoice;
it offers familiar ways
and in your Spring 
it is loyalty and honesty
to keep what is yours.

Love me faithfully! 
Be aware of my loyalty:
with my whole heart
and with all my mind
I am with you 
even when far away. 
Whoever loves in such a way
is turned on the wheel.

Text Authorship:

• Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
  
  

Based on:

• a text in Latin by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae, first published c1300
  • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

Note for stanza 1, line 8, "boy god": Cupid.
Note for stanza 3, line 8, "turned on the wheel": simultaneously a reference to the wheel of Fortune, and to the torture mechanism known as St. Catherine's wheel.

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-16
Line count: 24
Word count: 106

Ecce gratum
et optatum
ver reducit gaudia,
purpuratum
floret pratum,
sol serenat omnia.
Iam iam cedant tristia!
Estas redit,
nunc recedit
hyemis sevitia. Ah !

Iam liquescit
et decrescit
grando, nix et cetera,
bruma fugit,
et iam sugit
ver estatis ubera:
illi mens est misera,
qui nec vivit,
nec lascivit
sub Estatis dextera.Ah !

Gloriantur
et letantur
in melle dulcedinis,
qui conantur,
ut utantur
premio Cupidinis;
simus iussu Cypridis
gloriantes
et letantes
pares esse Paridis. Ah !

Behold, agreeable 
and welcome 
Spring brings back joy;
clad in purple,
the meadow blooms,
the sun makes everything pleasant.
Now, now let sadness retreat!
Summer returns,
now recedes
Winter's cruelty. Ah!

Now melt
away
hail, snow and the rest,
cold weather flees,
and now Spring
sucks at the teats of Summer:
his mind is pitiable 
who neither lives
not frolics
under the right hand of Summer. Ah!

They glory
and rejoice 
in the honey of sweetness, 
who endeavor 
to enjoy 
Cupid's prize;
let us be at the command of the Cyprian
glorying 
and rejoicing 
in being equals of Paris. Ah!

Text Authorship:

• Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
  
  

Based on:

• a text in Latin by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae, first published c1300
  • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

Note for stanza 3, line 7, "the Cyprian": the goddess Venus, who in some accounts was born on the island of Cyprus.

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-18
Line count: 30
Word count: 100

Floret silva nobilis
floribus et foliis.
Ubi est antiquus
meus amicus? Ah !
Hinc equitavit!
Eia, quis me amabit? Ah !

Floret silva undique,
nach mime gesellen ist mir we.
Gruonet der walt allenthalben,
wa ist min geselle alse lange?
Ah! der ist geriten hinnen,
owi, wer sol mich minnen? Ah!

The noble forest blooms
with flowers and leaves.
Where is my
old beloved? Ah!
He has ridden away!
Alas, who will love me? Ah!

The forest blooms on all sides,
Woe is me, for my beloved.
The forest blooms on all sides,
Why is my beloved so long?
Ah! he has ridden away,
Alas, who will love me? Ah!

Text Authorship:

• Translation from Multiple Languages to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
  
  

Based on:

• a text in Multiple Languages by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae, first published c1300
  • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-18
Line count: 12
Word count: 59

Chramer, gip die varwe mir
diu min wengel roete,
da mit ich die jungen man
an ir dank der minnenliebe noete.

Seht mich an,
jungen man!
Lat mich iu gevallen!

Minnet, tugentliche man,
minnecliche frouwen!
minne tuot iu hoch gemuot
unde lat iuch in hohen
eren schouwen.

Seht mich an,
jungen man!
Lat mich iu gevallen!

Wol dir werlt, das du bist
also freudenriche!
Ich will dir sin undertan
durch din liebe immer sicherliche.

Seht mich an,
jungen man!
Lat mich iu gevallen!

Merchant, give me a pigment 
with which to redden my cheek,
so that I may make the young men
love me against their will.

Look at me,
young men!
Let me please you!

Worthy men, love
beautiful woman!
Love puts you in high spirits 
and shows you off
in high honor.

Look at me,
young men!
Let me please you!

Blessings on you, world, for you are
so rich in joy!
Surely I will be your servant 
always through love of you.

Look at me,
young men!
Let me please you!

Text Authorship:

• Translation from Mittelhochdeutsch to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
  
  

Based on:

• a text in Mittelhochdeutsch by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae, first published c1300
  • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-24
Line count: 22
Word count: 91

Chorus
 Swaz hie gat umbe
 daz sint alles megede,
 die wellent an man
 allen disen sumer gan.

Semi-Chorus
 Chume, chum, geselle min,
 ih enbite harte din,
 ih enbite harte din,
 chum, chum, geselle min.

 Suzer rosenvarwer munt,
 chum unde mache mich gesunt,
 chum unde mache mich gesunt,
 suzer rosenvarwer munt.

Chorus
 Whatever is going on here,
 these are all maidens 
 who wish to go without men 
 this whole summer.

Semi-Chorus
 Come, come my beloved,
 I await you eagerly,
 I await you eagerly,
 come, come, my beloved.

 Sweet rose-colored mouth,
 come and make me well,
 come and make me well,
 sweet rose-colored mouth.

Text Authorship:

• Translation from Mittelhochdeutsch to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
  
  

Based on:

• a text in Mittelhochdeutsch by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae, first published c1300
  • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-24
Line count: 14
Word count: 52

Were diu werlt alle min
von deme mere unze an den Rin,
des wolt ih mih darben,
daz diu chünegin von Engellant
lege an minen armen. Hei!

If this world were all mine
from the sea to the Rhine, 
I would gladly give it all up
to have the Queen of England 
lying in my arms. Hey!

Text Authorship:

• Translation from Mittelhochdeutsch to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
  
  

Based on:

• a text in Mittelhochdeutsch by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae, first published c1300
  • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

Note for line 5, "the Queen of England": probably Eleanor of Aquitaine (c. 1124-1204), the wife of Henry II.

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-24
Line count: 5
Word count: 30

II. IN TABERNA

Estuans interius
ira vehementi
in amaritudine
loquor mee menti:
factus de materia,
cinis elementi,
similis sum folio,
de quo ludunt venti.

Cum sit enim proprium
viro sapienti
supra petram ponere
sedem fundamenti,
stultus ego comparor
fluvio labenti,
sub eodem tramite
nunquam permanenti.

Feror ego veluti
sine nauta navis,
ut per vias aeris
vaga fertur avis;
non me tenent vincula,
non me tenet clavis,
quero mihi similes
et adiungor pravis.

Mihi cordis gravitas
res videtur gravis;
iocus est amabilis
dulciorque favis;
quicquid Venus imperat,
labor est suavis,
que nunquam in cordibus
habitat ignavis.

Via lata gradior
more iuventutis,
inplicor et vitiis
immemor virtutis,
voluptatis avidus
magis quam salutis,
mortuus in anima
curam gero cutis.

II. IN THE TAVERN
 
Burning inside
with violent anger,
in bitterness 
I address my mind:
constructed of matter,
ashes of the fundamental substance,
I am like a leaf
played with by the winds.

For though it is proper 
for a wise man
to set on a rock
the seat of his fundament,
I, being foolish, am like
a flowing river,
on the same path 
never persisting.

I am borne along like
a boat without a boatman,
like a bird wandering 
along the paths of the air;
chains do not hold me,
a key does not hold me,
I seek those like me
and am joined with the wicked.

To me a heavy heart 
seems a burdensome thing;
jesting is pleasant 
and sweeter than a honeycomb;
whatever Venus commands
is pleasant labor,
and she never dwells 
in faint hearts.

I walk a broad road
as a young man does,
and I am entangled in vice,
heedless of virtue,
eager for pleasure 
rather than salvation;
dead in spirit,
I pursue the care of the flesh.

Text Authorship:

• Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
  
  

Based on:

• a text in Latin by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae, first published c1300
  • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-24
Line count: 41
Word count: 173

Olim lacus colueram
olim pulcher extiteram,
dum cignus ego fueram.

Miser, miser!
modo niger
et ustus fortiter!

Girat, regirat garcifer;
me rogus urit fortiter;
propinat me nunc dapifer.

Miser, miser!
modo niger
et ustus fortiter!

 ... 

Nunc in scutella iaceo,
et volitare nequeo,
dentes frendentes video.

Miser, miser!
modo niger
et ustus fortiter!

Once I lived on the lakes,
once I was beautiful,
when I was a swan.

Poor me, poor me!
Now black
and completely burnt!

The servant turns and turns me again;
the fire burns me intensely;
now the waiter serves me.

Poor me, poor me!
Now black
and completely burnt!

 ... 

Now I lie on a platter,
and cannot fly,
I see teeth champing.

Poor me, poor me!
Now black
and completely burnt!

Text Authorship:

• Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
  
  

Based on:

• a text in Latin by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , no title, appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae, first published c1300
  • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-4,9-10 of the original text.

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-24
Line count: 30
Word count: 128

Ego sum abbas Cucaniensis
et consilium meum est cum bibulis,
et in secta Decii voluntas mea est,

et qui mane me quesierit in taberna,
post vesperam nudus egredietur,
et sic denudatus veste clamabit:

Wafna, wafna!
quid fecisti sors turpissima?
nostre vite gaudia
abstulisti omnia!

I am the abbot of Cockaigne
and my counsel is with the drinkers,
and in the order of Dicers is my will,

and he who seeks me early in the tavern
will go out naked after vespers, 
and stripped of his clothing he will cry:

Oh woe, Oh woe!
What have you done, fate most foul? 
Our life's joys
you have taken all away!

Text Authorship:

• Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
  
  

Based on:

• a text in Latin by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae, first published c1300
  • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

Note for stanza 1, line 1: Cockaigne was a mythical land of ease and plenty.
Note for stanza 1, line 4: secta Decii ("the order of Decius") was a medieval term for gamblers, decius being a contemporary Latin word for a gaming die.

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-23
Line count: 10
Word count: 64

In taberna quando sumus
non curamus quid sit humus,
sed ad ludum properamus,
cui semper insudamus.
Quid agatur in taberna,
ubi nummus est pincerna,
hoc est opus ut queratur,
si quid loquar, audiatur.

Quidam ludunt, quidam bibunt,
quidam indiscrete vivunt.
Sed in ludo qui morantur,
ex his quidam denudantur,
quidam ibi vestiuntur,
quidam saccis induuntur.
Ibi nullus timet mortem,
sed pro Baccho mittunt sortem:

Primo pro nummata vini;
ex hac bibunt libertini,
semel bibunt pro captivis,
post hec bibunt ter pro vivis,
quater pro Christianis cunctis,
quinquies pro fidelibus defunctis,
sexies pro sororibus vanis,
septies pro militibus silvanis.

Octies pro fratribus perversis,
nonies pro monachis dispersis,
decies pro navigantibus,
undecies pro discordantibus,
duodecies pro penitentibus,
tredecies pro iter agentibus.
Tam pro papa quam pro rege
bibunt omnes sine lege.

Bibit hera, bibit herus,
bibit miles, bibit clerus,
bibit ille, bibit illa,
bibit servus cum ancilla,
bibit velox, bibit piger,
bibit albus, bibit niger,
bibit constans, bibit vagus,
bibit rudis, bibit magus.

Bibit pauper et egrotus,
bibit exul et ignotus,
bibit puer, bibit canus,
bibit presul et decanus,
bibit soror, bibit frater,
bibit anus, bibit mater,
bibit ista, bibit ille,
bibunt centum, bibunt mille.

Parum sexcente nummate
durant, cum immoderate
bibunt omnes sine meta.
Quamvis bibant mente leta,
sic nos rodunt omnes gentes
et sic erimus egentes.
Qui nos rodunt, confundantur
et cum iustis non scribantur.

Io io io io io io io io io!

When we are in the tavern
we don't care about the soil,
but we rush to our gaming,
which always makes us sweat.
What goes on in the tavern,
where cash is the bartender,
one may well ask;
if I say anything, let it be heard.

Some play, some drink,
some live recklessly.
But of those who persist at the game,
some are stripped naked,
some there put on new clothes,
some are dressed in sacks.
There no one fears death,
but they cast lots before Bacchus.

First for pennyworths of wine:
after that, the libertines drink,
they drink once for the prisoners,
then they drink three times for the living,
four times for all Christians,
five times for the departed faithful,
six times for foolish sisters,
seven times for bandits in the wood.

Eight times for misguided brothers,
nine times for scattered monks,
ten times for those who sail,
eleven times for those who quarrel,
twelve times for those who repent,
thirteen times for those who travel.
For the pope as well as for the king
they all drink without restraint.

The mistress drinks, the master drinks,
the soldier drinks, the cleric drinks,
that man drinks, that woman drinks,
the slave drinks with the maidservant,
the lively man drinks, the lazy man drinks,
the white man drinks, the black man drinks,
the steady man drinks, the capricious man drinks,
the ignorant man drinks, the wise man drinks.

The poor man drinks, and the invalid,
The exile drinks, and the stranger,
the boy drinks, the graybeard drinks,
the bishop drinks, and the prior,
the sister drinks, the brother drinks, 
the old maid drinks, the mother drinks,
this woman drinks, that man drinks,
a hundred drink, a thousand drink.

Six hundred pennyworths do not last 
long enough, when immoderately 
everyone drinks without limit.
As much as they drink joyously,
all people slander us for this 
and so we will be destitute.
May those who slander us be confounded 
and may they not be listed among the just.

Hey! hey hey! hey! hey! hey! hey! hey! hey!

Text Authorship:

• Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
  
  

Based on:

• a text in Latin by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae, first published c1300
  • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-23
Line count: 57
Word count: 345

III. COUR D'AMOURS

Amor volat undique;
captus est libidine,
iuvenes, iuvencule
coniuguntur merito.
Siqua sine socio,
caret omni gaudio,
tenet noctis infima
sub intimo cordis in custodia:
fit res amarissima.

III. COURT OF LOVE
 
Love flies all about;
he is captured by desire,
young men and young women 
deserve to be joined together.
If anyone lacks a companion 
she is deprived of all joy,
she holds the depths of night
in the vault of her inmost heart:
it becomes a most bitter thing.

Text Authorship:

• Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
  
  

Based on:

• a text in Latin by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae, first published c1300
  • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-22
Line count: 10
Word count: 53

Dies, nox et omnia
mihi sunt contraria,
virginum colloquia
me fay planszer,
oy suvenz suspirer,
plu me fay temer.

O sodales, ludite,
vos qui scitis dicite,
mihi mesto parcite,
grand ey dolur,
attamen consulite
per voster honur.

Tua pulchra facies,
me fey planser milies,
pectus habet glacies.
A remender,
statim vivus fierem
per un baser.

Day, night and everything 
are all against me,
the conversation of virgins
makes me weep,
yes, often makes me sigh,
and more, it frightens me.

Make sport, comrades,
speak, you who understand,
have mercy on me in my sorrow,
I am in great pain,
nevertheless advise me
as befits your honor.

Your beautiful face 
makes me weep a thousand times,
Ice grips my heart.
To fix it,
I would at once come to life 
with a kiss.

Text Authorship:

• Translation from Multiple Languages to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
  
  

Based on:

• a text in Multiple Languages by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae, first published c1300
  • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-22
Line count: 18
Word count: 77

Stetit puella
rufa tunica.
Si quis eam tetigit,
tunica crepuit. 
Eia.

Stetit puella
tamquam rosula:
facie splenduit
et os eius floruit. 
Eia.

A girl stood
in a red tunic.
If anyone touched it
the tunic rustled. 
Ah!

A girl stood 
like a little rose:
her face was radiant 
and her mouth was in blossom.
Ah!

Text Authorship:

• Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
  
  

Based on:

• a text in Latin by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae, no. 177, first published c1300
  • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-21
Line count: 10
Word count: 33

Circa mea pectora
multa sunt suspiria
de tua pulchritudine,
que me ledunt misere. Ah !

Mandaliet,
mandaliet,
min geselle
chumet niet.

Tui lucent oculi
sicut solis radii,
sicut splendor fulguris
lucem donat tenebris. Ah !

Mandaliet,
mandaliet,
min geselle
chumet niet.

Vellet deus, vellent dii,
quod mente proposui,
ut eius virginea
reserassem vincula. Ah !

Mandaliet,
mandaliet,
min geselle
chumet niet.

Within my breast 
are many sighs
over your beauty,
which pain me sorely. Ah!

Song of joy,
song of joy,
my beloved 
does not come.

Your eyes shine 
like the rays of the sun,
as a flash of lightning 
illuminates the darkness. Ah!

Song of joy,
song of joy,
my beloved 
does not come.

May God grant, may the gods grant
what I have resolved in my mind,
that I may loose
the fetters of her virginity.

Song of joy,
song of joy,
my beloved 
does not come.

Text Authorship:

• Translation from Multiple Languages to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
  
  

Based on:

• a text in Multiple Languages by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae, first published c1300
  • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

Translator's note: the German refrain "mandaliet" has been interpreted in a wide variety of ways. I rely on the Middle High German dictionaries of Benecke, Müller and Zarncke (1866) and of Matthias Lexer (1878), which translate it as Freudenlied, "song of joy" (Lexer adds Tanzlied, "dance song").

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-21
Line count: 24
Word count: 88

Si puer cum puellula
moraretur in cellula,
felix coniunctio.
Amore succrescente,
pariter e medio
propulso procul tedio,
fit ludus ineffabilis
membris, lacertis, labiis.

If a boy with a girl
in a chamber should tarry,
O happy union.
As love springs up,
and so from their midst
reluctance is driven away,
there comes the ineffable play
of limbs, of shoulders, of lips.

Text Authorship:

• Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2025 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
  
  

Based on:

• a text in Latin by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae, first published c1300
  • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2025-05-21
Line count: 8
Word count: 38

Veni, veni, venias
ne me mori facias,
hyrca, hyrce, nazaza,
trillirivos!

Pulchra tibi facies,
oculorum acies,
capillorum series,
o quam clara species!

Rosa rubicundior
lilio candidior,
omnibus formosior,
semper in te glorior!

Come, come, you must come
lest you make me die,
hyrca, hyrce, nazaza,
trillirivos!

Lovely your face,
the brightness of your eyes,
the flow of your tresses,
O what a brilliant sight!

Redder than the rose
whiter than the lily,
more beautiful than everyone,
I glory in you always!

Text Authorship:

• Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
  
  

Based on:

• a text in Latin by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae, first published c1300
  • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

Note for stanza 1, lines 3-4: these are nonsense words that are generally left untranslated.

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-20
Line count: 12
Word count: 49

In trutina mentis dubia
fluctuant contraria
lascivus amor et pudicitia.
Sed eligo, quod video,
collum iugo prebeo;
ad iugum tamen suave transeo.

On my mind's unsure scales
balance against each other 
wanton love and modesty. 
But I choose what I see,
I present my neck for the yoke;
yet it is to a sweet yoke that I submit.

Text Authorship:

• Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
  
  

Based on:

• a text in Latin by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae, first published c1300
  • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-20
Line count: 6
Word count: 36

Tempus est iocundum,
o virgines,
modo congaudete
vos iuvenes.

Oh - oh, totus floreo,
iam amore virginali
totus ardeo,
novus, novus amor est,
quo pereo.

Mea me comfortat
promissio,
mea me deportat
negatio.

Oh - oh, totus floreo,
iam amore virginali
totus ardeo,
novus, novus amor est,
quo pereo.

Tempore brumali
vir patiens,
animo vernali
lasciviens.

Oh - oh, totus floreo,
iam amore virginali
totus ardeo,
novus, novus amor est,
quo pereo.

Mea mecum ludit
virginitas,
mea me detrudit
simplicitas.

Oh - oh, totus floreo,
iam amore virginali
totus ardeo,
novus, novus amor est,
quo pereo.

Veni, domicella,
cum gaudio;
veni, veni, pulchra,
iam pereo.

Oh - oh, totus floreo,
iam amore virginali
totus ardeo,
novus, novus amor est,
quo pereo.

It is the time of delight,
O virgins,
now rejoice together,
you young men. 

Oh, oh, I am all aflower,
now with a virginal love
I am all aflame,
it is a new, new love
of which I am dying.

My promise 
cheers me up,
my refusal
lets me down.

Oh, oh, I am all aflower,
now with a virginal love
I am all aflame,
it is a new, new love
of which I am dying.

In time of Winter 
a man is patient,
the spirit of springtime 
makes him frisky.

Oh, oh, I am all aflower,
now with a virginal love
I am all aflame,
it is a new, new love
of which I am dying.

My virginity 
plays with me,
my naïveté 
restrains me.

Oh, oh, I am all aflower,
now with a virginal love
I am all aflame,
it is a new, new love
of which I am dying.

Come, my mistress,
with joy;
come, come, my beauty,
now I am dying.

Oh, oh, I am all aflower,
now with a virginal love
I am all aflame,
it is a new, new love
of which I am dying.

Text Authorship:

• Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
  
  

Based on:

• a text in Latin by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae
  • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-20
Line count: 45
Word count: 191

Dulcissime! Ah! 
Totam tibi subdo me!

Ah, my sweetest!
I yield myself entirely to you!

Text Authorship:

• Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
  
  

Based on:

• a text in Latin by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae, first published c1300
  • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-20
Line count: 2
Word count: 9

BLANZIFOR ET HELENA

Ave formosissima
gemma pretiosa,
ave, decus virginum,
virgo gloriosa,
ave, mundi luminar,
ave, mundi rosa,
Blanziflor et Helena,
Venus generosa!

BLANCHEFLEUR AND HELEN
 
Hail most beautiful 
precious gem,
hail, ornament of virgins,
glorious virgin,
hail, light of the world,
hail, rose of the world,
Blanchefleur and Helen,
noble Venus!

Text Authorship:

• Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
  
  

Based on:

• a text in Latin by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae, first published c1300
  • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

Note for line 7, "Blanchefleur": the heroine of a popular medieval romance, whose name means "white flower."

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-18
Line count: 9
Word count: 29

  FORTUNA IMPERATRIX MUNDI 

O Fortuna,
velut luna
statu variabilis, 
semper crescis
aut decrescis;
vita detestabilis
nunc obdurat
et tunc curat
ludo mentis aciem;
egestatem,
potestatem
dissolvit ut glaciem.

Sors immanis
et inanis,
rota tu volubilis,
status malus,
vana salus
semper dissolubilis,
obumbrata
et velata
mihi quoque niteris;
nunc per ludum
dorsum nudum
fero tui sceleris.

Sors salutis
et virtutis
mihi nunc contraria,
est affectus
et defectus
semper in angaria.
Hac in hora
sine mora
corde pulsum tangite;
quod per sortem
sternit fortem,
mecum omnes plangite!

  FORTUNE,  EMPRESS OF THE WORLD

O Fortune,
just like the moon 
you are changeable,
always waxing
or waning;
hateful life
now dulls 
and then heals
the mind's sharpness for its sport;
poverty
and power
it melts like ice.

Fate, monstrous 
and futile,
you are a turning wheel,
an evil state,
a vain refuge 
always bound to melt away,
shadowed
and veiled,
you also press upon me;
now my back
is laid bare
through the play of your wickedness.

A fate of safety 
and virtue 
is denied to me, 
whether excited 
or exhausted 
one is always in bondage.
At this hour
without delay
pluck the throbbing string;
because by fate
the strong are laid low,
all of you, lament with me!

Text Authorship:

• Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
  
  

Based on:

• a text in Latin by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae, first published c1300
  • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-11
Line count: 37
Word count: 121