I am the abbot of Cockaigne | I am the abbot of Cockaigne

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by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Ego sum abbas Cucaniensis

Language: Latin

Our translations: ENG ITA SPA

Choose for Diff

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!

Text Authorship:

by Anonymous / Unidentified Author, appears in Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae, first published c1300 [author's text not yet checked 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), "Ego sum abbas Cucaniensis", 1935-6 [ baritone and men's chorus ], from Carmina Burana, no. 13 [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Sono l'abate di Cuccagna (Baritono e coro maschile)", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
SPA Spanish (Español) (Saúl Botero Restrepo) , "Soy el abad de Cucaña", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani

This text was added to the website: 2011-04-24
Line count: 10
Word count: 44

I am the abbot of Cockaigne

Language: English after the Latin

Choose for Diff

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!

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.

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.

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